All I Want For Christmas
by Zebeckras
Summary: Webfoot continuity, new story. For her first Christmas with Darkwing et al, Beth wants something very specific, but she's clueless about how to get it.
1. Chapter 1

**All I Want For Christmas**

by RL Kelly

* * *

_A/N: Although this is a brand-new and genuinely in-progress story, it takes place a while back in continuity. Consider it a while after "It Came From Outer Space", the last of the five Webfoot Chronicles; before "The Bride Wore Black". Also, yep, this is inspired by the ubiquitous "All I Want For Christmas Is You", by Mariah Carey. (I hope this is formatted properly - I had some trouble...)_

* * *

"Only '4' More Shopping Days Until Christmas!" the sign on the store window announced, and Beth Webfoot stressed over the fact that, for her, it was actually one day less. The usual Webfoot Christmas celebrations began by noon on Christmas Eve, and Beth was fully expected to be there, even though it meant a two-hour taxi ride since her mother had explained that no one could spend the four hours to go out and get her, then come back. 

Therefore, she had only until 10 am on the morning of Christmas Eve to finish her Christmas shopping, and with each day that passed, she was increasingly certain that the finish would forever elude her.

It wasn't that she had too many gifts to get, or that she would be unable to find anything for most of the people she knew. It wasn't even the fact that she'd had put off most of her shopping until the last week before the holiday because she had to wait for her next paycheck from Fowler-Mergatroid to clear so that she had the money. It was the fact that there was no gift for Drake.

Beth zoomed through the body care shop she was browsing, trying to push her growing panic from her mind even as she agonized over every item in the store, trying to find the right thing. She admitted to herself that her standards might be a little high; but Drake was a very, very important person in her life. The gift had to give just the right message. Nothing ostentatious - it should be subtle, perhaps even understated. Nothing funny or trivial, only mature and intelligent. Not cheap, but she could hardly afford to blow a whole lot of her paycheck on him (yet - maybe in another year or so). It should catch his eye, make him smile, make him understand that she understood him. It should say, "You are special, and I got you this special thing because of that"

It should _not_ say "I love you" outright, except maybe around the edges... Perhaps, he would put it on his dresser (or wherever the proper place for whatever she would get him would be) and look at it each day, taking a few moments every morning or evening to contemplate both the gift and the giver... Each day, growing more thoughtul, more _intrigued_ by the woman who had found this gift that seemed to unlock his heart, and his happiness. Then at last, in January maybe, even February, a new light would seem to shine on Beth Webfoot as she stepped through his door, and-

_Okay,_ she thought. _Being stupid. Stop now._ Blushing, Beth shook her head and found that she'd been staring at a rack of soaps for about fifteen seconds. She stepped away from them - too mundane - and hoped that she'd been quick enough to avoid any salesgirls popping up to offer assistance or advice.

She did one more quick once-over of the store in the hope of finding anything, but every item was wrong. Shaving supplies? Too personal, and he probably had his own shaving habits she knew nothing about.

Candles? Too boring, and slightly girly.

Cologne? Too generic. It was the kind of thing kids got their fathers when they couldn't think of anything else. _Oh - right, Dad._ Beth turned back to the cologne display and grabbed a bottle at random.

* * *

"Gosh, you put up decorations kinda late, Drake." 

Drake pulled his head out of the box he was rooting through, where he seemed to be trying to untangle one massive knot of coloured tree lights from a second knot of clear lights, and gave Beth an even look. "Compared to what? It's still four days 'til Christmas!"

"Well, compared to..." Beth paused, clutching a garland in her hands which she'd just pulled out of the Mallards' decorations box. She'd picked it because it had what looked like tiny Christmas gifts on it. Now she wound it nervously between her fingers as she fidgeted under his gaze. "To, say, my family? Not that I'm saying we're right and you're wrong, just-" She gave him a small, embarrassed smile when he rolled his eyes.

"No one thinks you were saying that," he said impatiently, and nodded at her to finish her thought.

"Oh, well, just that we usually put up decorations at least two weeks before, is all." She felt anticlimactic, and shrugged sheepishly.

Drake buried himself back inside the box. "Well, the tree could conceivably die during those weeks," his muffled voice informed her.

"Yeah... it usually did," Beth said quietly, frowning at some unshared memory. She forced herself to brighten; Drake had been in an exceptionally good mood lately, and Beth wanted to match it. "Well, thanks for letting me come over and help you decorate! I don't get to do it very often, since my family doesn't usually wait for me."

"Think nothing of it!" he answered as he emerged at last from the box, momentarily triumphant. The short-lived triumph failed in the next moment, however, as Drake began to untangle the now-single knot of lights. "Everyone (drat it!) should have some time (why do they ALWAYS do this?!) decorating for the holidays! It helps get into the holiday spirit - YOU STUPID LIGHTS, WHY THE HECK ARE YOU ALL STUCK TOGETHER?!"

This was a tiny bit awkward. Beth took a step backwards, looping the garland around her wrist distractedly, and wondered if she should offer him any help. Drake didn't seem to be using actual words anymore; what little she heard was a general muttering of syllables, something along the lines of "rackin-frackin-grumble-grar". She was just about to clear her throat and offer assistance when Gosalyn walked in.

"Chill out, Dad, that's not much of a holiday spirit. Want me to do it?" She put down the stocking she had been intending to hang up - which, incidentally, was trailing a good two feet behind her as she walked - and held out her hand for the lights.

For a moment, Drake didn't seem to be willing to let the lights go. Then he relaxed. "Yeah, thanks, Gos. See what you can do with these." He hoisted the knot, which looked for all the world like a giant ball of yarn with a few random bulbs sticking out of it, into her hands. "Make sure all the bulbs are still working while you're at it," he instructed airily as he returned his attention to the box of decorations he'd been rooting through.

Gosalyn rolled her eyes and started nimbly pulling at the knotted cords, making much better time than her father had a moment before. "Yeesh, do a guy a favour..."

"That's awfully nice of you," Beth put in, and considered offering to untangle the other set. She couldn't quite escape the idea that she'd just tangle them up more, however, and the prospect worried her so much that she kept her mouth shut and let Gosalyn take care of it.

"Yeah, well, sometimes with Dad you have to step in before things go nuclear." She shrugged and indicated the stocking she'd draped over one of the armchairs. "Besides, the more smoothly the decorating goes, the better my chances of getting that filled all the way."

Beth blinked. "Oh." So that was how it worked. Maybe she _should_ offer to do the lights.

"Got 'em!" Gosalyn announced, holding up the plug end of the straightened length of coloured bulbs. Drake's head emerged from the decorations box, his face alight.

"Way to go, sweetie! Now do this one," he said, and tossed her the other knot. Gosalyn dropped the line of coloured lights to catch the clears, and sagged slightly. Drake, oblivious, hummed as he began stringing the lights along the branches of the tree.

Beth looked sympathetic. "Um... want some help?"

"Nah," Gosalyn said, waving a hand. "This takes major technical expertise. No offense."

"Uh... okay." Beth stepped back and tilted her head as Drake plugged in the coloured lights and examined their presentation on the tree, tilting his head in opposition to hers. "That looks good!" she said encouragingly.

"Yep, yep, that it does." He was clearly pleased with himself. Then he frowned and stepped forward. "Wait." He squinted, then moved a loop of light onto the branch just above it. "There. Perfect." He turned to Beth expectantly.

"Oh! Ah, yes! Very perfect!" Very perfect? What the heck was that supposed to mean? She groaned internally.

Gosalyn held up the second strand. "Done!"

Drake tousled his daughter's hair as he thanked her and started stringing the clear lights. "This is the tricky part," he told Beth, his tone suggesting he wasn't really speaking to her but to himself. "You have to find just the right spots for the clears so that they set off the coloured ones the right way..."

"Wow," she said. Beside her, Gosalyn rolled her eyes and snorted almost inaudibly. "I had no idea so much thought went into this."

"Only if you're extremely Type-A," Gosalyn said.

Drake glared at her. "Gee, I sure hope a certain someone's stocking doesn't look strangely EMPTY come Christmas morning," he said warningly.

Gosalyn stiffened. "Gosh, maybe I oughta go help Launchpad with the lights OUTside, just see if they need untangling too?"

"Sounds good." Drake nodded as Gosalyn tacked her stocking to the fireplace mantle, and then turned his attention back to the tree as his daughter exited the house. "Now, lesson two about hanging lights. You don't want to OVERdo it."

"I see." Beth had no idea when this had turned into a lesson, and hated to admit that she wasn't very interested in receiving one. She tried to gently lead the subject on to something else, but couldn't find an appropriate segue. "Well, I... I hope I live up to your standards," she said lamely.

"Ah, you're doing fine," Drake said told her as he finished weaving the lights among the branches. He looked back over his shoulder at her, and stopped. "You _do_ know you're supposed to _hang_ the garlands, right Beth?"

She jumped as she realized she was still holding the string of tiny presents. "Oh! Yes! Of course! I was - I was waiting for you to be finished!"

He looked back at the glowing tree, then put his hand to his chin. "Y'know, you're right... this is taking too long." Before Beth had a chance to do more than sputter that that really wasn't what she'd meant, he'd pulled a garland out of the decorations box and grabbed the one she'd been choking out of her hands, as well. "You unload as many ornaments and things as you can. I'm going to get my gas gun."

"Uh..." He was gone before she could ask if those two statements had anything to do with each other. "Well, okay," she said with a shrug, and started digging through another of the boxes that Drake had littered the living room with. She'd removed two ornaments and placed them carefully on the couch before she found the little bundle wrapped in tissue. Curious, she picked it up - it was incredibly light - and delicately unwrapped it to reveal a sprig of mistletoe.

She stared at it for a moment before she began to realize just what she was holding. This small plant (well, it was plastic, but it was an accurate representation of a plant) was the ticket to her happiness this Christmas. This mistletoe was the equivalent of a "One Free Kiss" coupon that Drake could not refuse.

Blushing, she closed her hand convulsively around the plastic sprig and shook her head. It wasn't like that at all! Mistletoe could be refused - though to her knowledge very few people did it - but more importantly, Drake wasn't interested in her. Despite her heart's own longings, she knew very well that Drake did not have any interest in kissing her. Tricking him into it using plant life was not fair.

Then again...

She loosened her fist and peered at the mistletoe, which seemed to peer back at her, whispering platitudes. _It's a holiday tradition,_ it said softly. _The very best one. And you've done a lot to deserve this, haven't you?_

Well, she could agree with that. After all, she had loved him quietly for months now, giving him constant support, waiting only for a kind word... ONE kiss, at Christmas, was not too much to ask for.

All she wanted for Christmas, all she REALLY wanted, was Drake. This was as close as she was likely to come.

"Okay, what'd you find?" Drake asked loudly as he came back down the stairs.

Beth jumped guiltily, clenching the mistletoe in her fist again to hide it. "I... uh..."

Drake was looking at the two ornaments she'd unloaded from the box, an eyebrow raised. "Wow, Beth, don't work too hard here."

"Oh, I..." She blushed. He wasn't talking about the mistletoe at all, of course. She was supposed to have taken out as many decorations as she could while he was gone. "I got - kind of overwhelmed and I didn't want to do it wrong so I, I..."

Drake shook his head, but a moment later gave her a half-smile. "Maaaaybe you'd do better feeding the light strings up to LP while he's up on the ladder," he said, a note of amusement in his voice. He stepped past her and started quickly taking out ornaments and loading them into his gas gun. "I can take care of things in here pretty well myself, so -"

"No!" Beth stepped forward; she wanted to spend as much time with Drake as possible while he was in this unexpectedly good mood. Plus, this was her best chance to get the mistletoe hung and put to use without a lot of overthinking. "I - can I watch you?"

As desperate as that sounded, it seemed to appeal to Drake's ego. He preened slightly, and then said, "Well, I can't blame you for wanting to see a master in action. Step back!" With a sudden air of drama, he waved her to his side. Beth, out of his line of vision, looked about quickly for an appropriate high spot for the mistletoe.

The gas gun fired suddenly, distracting her, and somehow the giant jumble of garlands, tinsel, and ornaments that Drake had shoved into the barrel composed itself during its journey and fell perfectly onto the tree's branches.

Drake turned back to her, grinning, something in his eyebrows suggesting the phrase "Am I great, or what?"

Beth had to admit that he was.

_To be continued!_


	2. Chapter 2

**All I Want For Christmas**

* * *

Putting up the mistletoe was not as easy as she had hoped it would be. Her original, half-formed plan had simply been to wait until Drake's back was turned or something, then pin the sprig up on the ceiling or wherever was handy and hope he noticed. She had skipped the part about _how_ he was supposed to notice, given that the thought of actually saying "Oh, look! We're under the mistletoe" aloud made her break out in a cold sweat. Her brain instead jumped right over that detail and went to the moment _after_ he noticed.

The problem was that it was a good deal easier to imagine that moment - and the subsequent moments - than it was to do anything to get herself there. First of all, she hadn't had much luck figuring out the ideal place for the mistletoe to hang, and second of all Drake was not satisfied with just letting her stand around staring at the ceiling for minutes on end. He had her spreading a table runner on the coffee table, arranging candles on the windowsills, and various other things; each time she stopped and spaced out, he said less but sighed louder.

Then there was the fact that Gosalyn and Launchpad had come back inside a while ago, and between the three of them there was no way to hang the mistletoe unnoticed. She still couldn't figure out the best place to hang it, either.

She was staring at the doorframe to the kitchen when Drake waved a hand in front of her face. "Either you didn't get enough sleep last night, or the voices are a lot louder than usual today."

"What? I'm fine," said Beth quickly. Drake gave her an odd look. "What did you say?"

Drake shook his head. "Forget it. It's a lost cause. Hey, LP," he called, turning away from Beth, "get Beth some egg nog, will ya? I think she needs a break."

Blushing, Beth began, "I'm fine, I just... Oh, never mind." Launchpad approached her, and she gave him an apologetic smile. "It's okay, don't bother with me. I don't like egg nog."

"Well, we got cocoa too," he said cheerfully, and held the door to the kitchen open for her. "C'mon, we'll find somethin' ya like."

Beth sighed and followed his lead into the kitchen. "I'm not making the greatest impression today," she said, half to herself.

Launchpad, poking through the refrigerator, glanced at her over his shoulder. "Whatta ya mean?"

"Nothing." She shook her head ruefully and pasted a smile on. "Um, Drake is really... happy this time of year, isn't he?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, emerging from the fridge with his hands full of coldcuts and bread. "Wanna sandwich?"

Beth raised an eyebrow, her smile a bit more genuine. "It's nearly time for dinner."

"Aw, any time is good for sandwiches." Launchpad chuckled. "Yeah, DW gets a big kick outta Christmas traditions an' stuff," he said absently. "Last year he spoiled Gos rotten. I think he might be headin' the same way this year, too."

"That's so sweet," Beth said with a sigh. "He's a great father."

"Yep!" Launchpad was focusing on the mayonnaise jar, which was nearly empty, but he sounded sincere. "And Gos is a great kid."

"Yeah. Not like any kid I've ever met before, though," she added, and Launchpad laughed. Something gnawed at her, begging to be asked, and it started to slip out before she could stop herself. "Do you think Drake..."

Launchpad, in the act of putting the sandwich fixings back in the refrigerator, looked up. "Huh? Do I think he what?"

"Do you..." Beth stopped, and put a hand over her eyes. She couldn't, she just couldn't ask Launchpad about Drake's feelings for her. The answer could be too awful. "Do you think he - he'd like any music for Christmas?"

"Huh. I dunno," Launchpad answered with a shrug. "I got him a dashboard compass for the Ratcatcher... What's the matter, you haven't got him anything yet?"

"No," she answered, her anxiety building again. "I just can't think of the right thing. You know - the perfect thing? The thing to tell him..." She sighed. "You know. How I feel."

"Oh," Launchpad said.

"I mean... not to tell him how I _feel_. Not really. But... well, what would YOU get someone for Christmas, if you have really deep feelings for them and want them to think about you seriously?"

There was a long pause. Beth wondered if Launchpad had to think for that long. Finally he grinned and said, "Sorry... I guess that's somethin' you have to figure out for yourself."

"Yeah." She smiled. "I kind of figured."

"You want cocoa?" He pulled two mugs out of the cupboard without waiting for an answer. She would have said "no", out of habit, if he hadn't done that. "Don't sweat the gift thing too much, Beth. I bet as long as somethin' comes from you it'll be special enough."

That was unexpectedly sweet, she thought. "I hope so," she said, accepting the mug. Suddenly she felt too tired, too hopeless to worry about the mistletoe. She should just be happy to be here, in the days leading up to Christmas, she felt. _Enjoy what you have,_ she told herself. Forget the kiss.

It felt like giving up on a dream, but she was used to that.

* * *

Dinner that night was a quiet affair, just herself and the TV after she'd left the Mallards' decorating "party". She did a bit of work on the project Fowler-Mergatroid had assigned her, and then headed upstairs to read in bed. She did her best to resist the blues that were trying to catch up with her; it was normal to feel somewhat lonely at the holidays, but it was important for her to remember how much more she had this year than she'd had in previous years. There would be time for love, next year. It could be her New Year's resolution: find true love. Sure.

She was checking the pockets of her jeans when her hands closed around a familiar object, and she cringed in horror. _The mistletoe._

She'd actually walked off with someone else's property. And not just any property, but the one she least wanted to think about right now.

Despite herself, she pulled it out of her pocket and looked closely at it, turning it about between her fingers. How could something so small have taken on so much meaning in her head? She tried to laugh it off and failed utterly.

Her best, and probably only, chance. And she wouldn't be able to do it. It didn't seem fair; other people got what they wanted, other people got kissed at Christmas. It was such a little thing. Not a commitment, not love, just one little moment.

And then, suddenly, hope relit itself in her heart. What was it Launchpad had said? Drake gets a big kick out of Christmas traditions. Traditions like kisses under the mistletoe.

They wouldn't own it if they didn't follow through on using it.

She spun the stem of the sprig between her thumb and forefinger, and her mind raced. It _was_ possible, wasn't it? Just tack it up somewhere and plant yourself underneath it. _Forget finding the "perfect place"; that place is wherever Drake and you are at the same time._

"I don't want a lot for Christmas," she said aloud, like a prayer. "This is all I'm asking for."

She would do it.

And this time she was going to enjoy herself, too.

* * *

With three more shopping days until Christmas, Beth Webfoot arrived early at the house two doors down from her own, resolve in her eyes. It was only about 9 am, but her determination had got the better of her; she'd awoken around 5:30 am and spent much of the morning talking herself up.

Although Launchpad had informed her shortly after she'd moved into the neighbourhood that she was fully within her rights to just walk on in any time, Beth was not able to do that just yet (if ever), so she rang the doorbell.

After a reasonable pause, Drake answered, clutching a mug of coffee and looking a bit bleary-eyed. "Beth," he said, sounding a little surprised. "You're here... again."

Oh lord, she'd woken him up. "I don't have to be," she stammered. "I mean - is it too early? It's too- I thought it was late enough, but-"

A familiar tension settled into Drake's shoulders as he put his hands over his eyes and muttered something that sounded vaguely like "Don't start."

That was when she noticed that he was dressed already. She _hadn't_ woken him up, he just wasn't quite ready for the day yet. She winced a little, and hung her head. Bad start. "Should I go?"

Drake raised his head and seemed to consider it. Her spirits sank even lower. But he surprised her, wonderfully, with the sweetest words she'd ever heard: "Nah, you might as well come on in. 'Tis the season, I guess."

She took off her coat and scarf as she stepped past him into the house. "Is Gosalyn here? I mean, is school out yet or is she still going? When _does_ school let out, I forget? I know it's soon -"

"She's in school today and tomorrow," Drake cut her off. He shut the door and walked around her, to the couch.

Beth set about her plan. She turned and looked back at the door, examining it. Okay - there was a little overhang where she could stick up the mistletoe. She'd come equipped with tape in the pocket of her jeans; all she had to do was wait for Drake to leave the room for a moment. The whole thing was planned out, step-by-step, in her head; there was no reason for it not to work.

"Hey, Beth!" Launchpad, from the top of the stairs, called down enthusiastically. She was momentarily surprised - somehow, she'd forgotten he would be here. He came downstairs quickly, beaming at her. "You're here again! Boy, this is great!"

"Oh yeah. Great," said Drake quietly, sipping at his coffee.

"Oh - thanks!" How exactly, she wondered, had she managed to forget that he would be here? It was one of the great blessings of her life, to have her best friend and the man she loved living in the same house, just down the street from her own. She smiled. "Yeah, I had nothing else to do, so..."

He reached her at the front door and came to a slightly awkward stop, like he'd been intending to reach out to her and had stopped himself. "You're still comin' for dinner tomorrow night, right?"

"Sure! I mean, of course!"

"If you have any other plans at all, Beth," said Drake, standing up suddenly, "you don't have to break them on our account." Launchpad gave him a funny look, almost a glare, which he ignored.

Beth shook her head. "Oh no. I wouldn't miss it. I'm stuck with my family after tomorrow, you know."

"Of course." Drake turned for the kitchen. "Great. It's great."

Launchpad looked after him, frowning slightly. Beth debated asking him what the problem was, then realized belatedly that this could be her chance. She just had to get Launchpad out of the room... and it had to be quick.

She grabbed at any reason she could think of. "Launchpad! Could you get me - some -" What was something reasonable? "Some eggnog?"

"I thought you didn't like eggnog!"

Shoot! She had said that already! "I mean water. Did I say eggnog? I wonder why, I mean that's so funny! I'm just so thirsty!"

"You say weird things when you get thirsty?" He sounded baffled.

"I... do. Yes. Crazy, huh?" She laughed loudly. "Eggnog, that's crazy all right! So, about that water?"

"No problemo!" He grinned, giving her a thumbs-up, and started for the kitchen. "There's somethin' I wanted to ask DW about, anyway," he added, quietly; he might have been talking to himself rather than her.

The kitchen door swung shut, and she sprang into a flurry of action. First she checked the height of the door's overhang; good, she was just tall enough to reach it. She fumbled through her pockets, retrieving the mistletoe from the one on the right, and the tape on the left; shooting frequent glances over her shoulder at the kitchen door, she managed to drop the tape twice and the mistletoe once before getting anything into place. Her hands were shaking by the time she got the tape into the right position and slapped the plastic plant into place.

The kitchen door started to open, and she bounded across the living room and flung herself into a chair, then tried to look like she was relaxing. Launchpad emerged, carrying a glass of water. "Here ya go! Hey, you okay? You look kinda pink."

"I'm... fine," she said, and cursed the fact that she was obviously out of breath. "Fine. Just... thirsty."

"Wow. Guess I got ya this just in time, then." He handed her the glass. She smiled gratefully, and drank half of it; she was actually thirstier than she'd realized.

"Thanks," she said in a half-gasp when she'd finished. He smiled in return. "Heh. Guess I should have had something to drink before I left my house, huh?"

"Maybe, if it was that bad," he nodded. "Hey, you know you can come over here any time, right? We all like havin' ya here. DW does too."

She blushed. "I know. And I like being here. So thanks." She was a little confused, since this seemed a bit abrupt on Launchpad's part, but it was always nice to hear. "Especially right now, when I don't really have a lot to do except come here... I mean, I don't..." She trailed off as it dawned on her, and looked up at Launchpad with wide eyes. "Oh. Oh my - am I wearing out my welcome?"

"No!" He said hastily, and patted her on the shoulder. "That's what I'm sayin'!"

She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Did Drake say something?"

Launchpad looked uncomfortable. "Naw! I mean - you know, he's kinda cranky in the mornings sometimes, and -"

"Ohhhh," Beth said, and put her head into her hands.

"Hey, no! He's not mad or anything!" Launchpad winced. "Boy. Guess I kinda screwed this up." Beth didn't answer, just moaned in embarrassment. "No, look, all I was tryin' to say was that you shouldn't pay any attention to anything he said earlier if it sounded kinda... off. He'd just started his coffee." He patted her on the back. "Aw, Beth, he likes havin' ya here! We all do! C'mon, cheer up!"

She lifted her head. "Are you sure?"

Launchpad nodded emphatically. "Oh yeah."

She sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."

"I guess I shouldn't've said anything."

Beth looked at him; he looked chagrined, a little like a scolded puppy. She managed a smile. "No. It was sweet. Thanks." He perked up immediately, and she felt better too.

Suddenly it hit her: the second half of the plan! She was wasting time! She stood up. "Oh my goodness, I forgot something at home! I have to go and I will come back later."

Launchpad looked surprised, but stood up as well. "Uh, okay. Hang on a sec." He turned to the kitchen. "DW! Beth's leavin'!"

"But I will come back later," she repeated stiffly.

Drake breezed out of the kitchen as she was going quickly for the door, his expression put-upon. "Beth," he said in a tight voice, "I'm sorry if I said anything earlier that you took the wrong way. Okay?"

"Oh... okay," she said awkwardly. She wanted to tell him that he hadn't, that she'd been so distracted by the mistletoe (_Don't tell him that part!_ her mind yelled) that she hadn't even noticed, that she knew he wanted her around _really_, but she had a plan to put into effect. There wasn't time now. She grabbed her coat and scrambled for the doorknob before one of them noticed the mistletoe. "I have to go and - and I will come back later."

"Okay! See ya then!" Launchpad said, and waved. Drake was glaring at him as she backed out of their house and shut the door behind her.

It was more important to concentrate on the plan, she told herself as she walked back up the sidewalk towards her house, than on the situation she had just left. Launchpad had assured her she was welcome, Drake had spontaneously apologized, and that was enough. The plan - that was what was important.

Once inside, she waited for five agonizingly long minutes, tapping her fingers against each other. The final minute was spent pacing in front of the door, before finally yanking it open and almost throwing herself through it.

She walked briskly down the sidewalk the way she'd just come, her heart pounding, and stopped at the front door again. This time it was very, very important that she use the doorbell.

The gaping hole in her plan didn't occur to her until the door was opened by Launchpad, not Drake. How this possibility had failed to occur to her was a sudden mystery, but Beth took two large, quick steps backward as soon as she saw him. "Hi! I'm back!"

"Yeah, hey, c'mon in!"

She was frozen, as long as he was under the mistletoe. Maybe she could dart past him before he noticed, but there was always the chance; in light of that, she couldn't bring her legs to work. "I will, I definitely will. Wow, the lights on your house look great."

"Oh, thanks! DW said he was gonna win the neighbourhood decorations contest this year if it killed him." He paused. "Are you gonna come in?"

"Soon," she said weakly. "You... you go on ahead and sit down. Gosh, look, reindeer on the roof."

_To be continued!_


	3. Chapter 3

**All I Want For Christmas**

* * *

The problem with hanging it over the door, she realized too late, was that there was no way to control who answered it - or who came to it, that matter. Any awful situation could arise. No, that had been a mistake.

Fortunately, that was only Plan A. There were other plans.

Plan B was a pretty good one, though lacking in the immediacy of Plan A (hence its being delegated to "B" slot): find a good, comfortable spot, stick the mistletoe there, and sit and wait.

Her opportunity to stick it up this time came much more quickly: Drake remembered something he needed to check on at the Tower, so he made a quick change into his costume and he and Launchpad set off for a while. Launchpad offered to bring Beth along, but she politely declined, stating that the spinning chairs made her slightly nauseous (which was, actually, somewhat the truth).

When the chairs came to a rest, she took a deep breath and looked about. The easiest spot to rest in was over the couch, but he didn't tend to sit next to her there; Launchpad did. Strike that one. Above the tree? Well... it was nice and seasonal (and romantic), but it wasn't exactly comfortable to sit and wait there.

The answer came to her, then: It was pretty much staring her in the face.

The _chairs_. If she could just tack it up over - or, perhaps, near - the chairs, she could simply wait near them for Drake and Launchpad to come back and get up when the chairs started going.

She took out more tape and jumped up onto one of the chairs, standing on tiptoe to reach for the ceiling. As she was reaching, just barely skimming the surface of the ceiling above, she stopped.

This was _insane_. First of all, this was probably the most heavily trafficked area in the house. It was the problem with the front door all over again. Second of all, how the heck would she explain why the mistletoe was suddenly up there without being humiliated?? It hadn't been there before - he was definitely going to know that - but all of a sudden, she's left alone in the house for a few minutes and it mysteriously appears? He'd have to be stupid not to figure that out, and Drake, of all people, was _not_ stupid.

She sat down on the chair and sighed. Okay, so Plan B was bust; there was always Plan C, which she might as well get started on before they got b--

The chairs started whirling before she could finish that thought, and Beth was swept along with them, a surprised squeak escaping her as they went.

She settled suddenly, disoriented, and looked around to find herself sprawled over a surprised-looking Launchpad. "Whoa. Uh, hey!" he said.

"Oh." She could feel herself blushing. At least, she consoled herself half-heartedly, she'd been sitting down... "Hi. I'm sorry."

"Aw, no problemo." He really didn't appear bothered, and was making no move to get up. Beth's head was still spinning a little, and she hadn't moved yet either. Somehow she couldn't seem to stop looking at him. Somehow he didn't seem to mind.

Next to them, Drake cleared his throat, and Beth gasped and jumped, turning to him. "Glad you two are getting nice and comfy," he said, with no lack of sarcasm.

Beth jumped to her feet. The room swam a little bit as the last of her dizziness got to her. "It's not like that," she protested, feeling oddly guilty. "I was sitting there - I didn't know when you guys would be back, and so..."

"Now do you understand why we have that rule about not sitting here?" He didn't sound irritated, as she'd expected him to; he seemed more - amused? She thought she could handle being laughed at if it meant he wasn't mad at her.

"Oh yeah. That rule. I forgot about that rule." It had been a while since he'd shouted at her about that chair, and she'd been given some song and dance about a loose spring or something. Even after finding out about the secret passageway in the chairs, she'd never actually connected it with that moment. She thought for a second. "I don't know if I was ever told that was a rule, really. Maybe more like a guideline."

"Well, now it's a rule." He raised an eyebrow at her sternly, but now he definitely sounded amused. "Will that make it easier to remember, Beth?"

Her heart was fluttering over his expression. "Um, yes." Feeling a little daring, she added a teasing, "I mean yes, sir."

To her heart's delight, he actually smiled now, although he was still playing it gruff. "And don't you forget it."

She was grinning like an idiot when he stood and went into the kitchen for lunch. Launchpad rubbed her shoulder and whispered, "Toldja."

Beth turned to him, beaming. "Rationally speaking I know it's ridiculous to be so happy to be scolded over a chair, but..." She blushed. "That's the best conversation I've had with him in weeks!"

* * *

She was running out of time.

It was afternoon already; Gosalyn would be home from school soon, which would complicate matters, and add to that the fact that she still had to go out shopping to find something for Drake - well, she was going to have to hurry things up, that was all there was to it.

Her conversation with Drake (could it, she wondered, be considered _flirting_? She was afraid she'd jinx it if she thought of it that way) had left her so happy that she'd let the whole thing slide for a while, and things had been pretty comfortable during that time. She'd helped Drake and Launchpad wrap gifts for Gosalyn - and boy, were there a lot of those - and that had led to a conversation about Gosalyn and some of the more "spirited" moments in her past.

The whole atmosphere had been so pleasant that she'd been reluctant to compromise it by returning to the mistletoe and the intense focus it required. At the same time, however, something in her was spurred on by the time she'd spent with Drake today; nothing about it had been anything but platonic, but it had been _good_. It had felt so RIGHT, that the kiss could only put a wonderful cap on a perfect day.

And so, it was time to start on Plan C. This involved figuring out where in the house was the one spot under which Drake passed the most. Granted, it took a little longer than the other plans; Beth spent about an hour on the couch, pretending to watch the Opal Windbag show, observing Drake's travelling patterns around the living room. The added benefit of watching this particular show was that Drake seemed to sincerely dislike it, whereas Launchpad was actively interested in it - so it kept Drake moving, and kept Launchpad still for most of the time as well.

After about 50 minutes, she'd managed to work out an algorithm in her head that pinpointed the exact spot he visited the most. Not surprisingly, at least at this time of year, it was close to the tree - about three feet away from it, on the left.

Now the only hard part was hanging it. The problem was that Launchpad seemed to have settled in on the couch, and she couldn't think of a good way to get him out of the room. She couldn't keep asking him for drinks - she may have been a guest, but she was a self-invited guest and that was just imposing on his good will.

There was nothing for it but to be honest, she reasoned. It was embarrassing, sure, but she knew Launchpad would understand. During the next commercial, after making certain Drake was not in the room, she cleared her throat and sat forward. "I have to admit to something, Launchpad."

"Huh?" He glanced in her direction, but was splitting his attention between her and the TV. "Admit to what?"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the mistletoe. Somewhat guiltily, she held it up to him. "I kind of... snagged this yesterday."

Suddenly he sat forward. "Whoa."

"Yeah." She blushed. "I know it was probably wrong, but I was just thinking it would be nice, you know, to..." Glancing down, she tried to find the least embarrassing words. "Use it, I guess, since I've never... had the chance to before."

"Uh-huh," he said earnestly. "Nothin' wrong with that."

"Really?" Relieved, she straightened up. "I mean, it's kind of embarrassing -"

"Nah! Why should it be?" Launchpad shook his head, briefly but emphatically. "It's a holiday tradition!"

"Right! And Drake really takes those pretty seriously, right?"

Launchpad nodded. "Yeah, he-" He stopped nodding, and considered for a moment. More slowly, he said, "Yeah. He does."

Beth felt excitement building again. She leaned towards Launchpad, who automatically leaned in towards her. "I wanted to let you know what I was doing, so I don't look like a total loony. I'm just going to hang it up and let tradition take its course."

"Okay," he said, nodding again, much more slowly. "I can... give you a hand if you want."

How could he do that? she wondered. Well, he was a good deal taller than she was. "I think I can do it, but thanks anyway. That's sweet." He smiled. "Okay. Wish me luck!"

"You bet," he said, and gave her a thumbs-up.

She stood, and pulling the tape out of her pocket again, considered the ceiling. Just how close was the right spot...? Well, she'd try it, and if it didn't look right she could take it down. She stuck some tape onto the end of the sprig, and stood on her tiptoes, reaching for the ceiling. "Launchpad - let me know if Drake comes out, okay?"

"Will do," he said, at her shoulder, and she jumped and snatched the mistletoe back down. "Whoa, sorry. Did I scare ya?"

He had startled her a little bit, but what had caused her reaction was more the fact that he was right behind her and another inch or so would have put them both into mistletoe range. She caught her breath and tried to let her heartbeat slow down. "Um - no, you were just... closer than I thought," she said awkwardly.

"Oh! Sorry." He grinned and took a step backwards. "This better?"

"You didn't have to- I didn't mean you were _too_ close, just closer than I..." She stammered her way through the explanation, knowing fully well from his expression that he hadn't taken offense but feeling a need to apologize regardless. That was mostly because he _had_ been too close, not within her personal space but within "Mistletoe Space", and it was just... weird. Oh well; she hadn't even hung it up yet, so the point was moot.

"Don't worry about it. So, ya want me to keep an eye out for DW?"

"Yeah, could you?" She smiled gratefully and went back to eyeing the ceiling. Maybe a little more to the front... This wasn't science, it was just a matter of bumping into him naturally. She stretched up again with her arms out, and wobbled a little bit.

Launchpad caught her gently around her waist. "Careful!"

Again, she drew her arms back in quickly, and he let go. "Oh! You're -" She stopped herself before she finished saying "you're right there again". It wasn't exactly grateful. "I mean thanks!"

"No problemo." He looked up. "You're set on over here, huh? The couch might be easier."

"No, he passes by here more often." She looked up, and pushed her bangs away from her eyes. "I guess I am a little bit short for this."

"Well, here, you want me to do it?" He held out his hand, and after a moment's hesitation she handed him the mistletoe. He was taller, and the help was appreciated. He reached up. "Just tell me where."

She took a step or two away, staring up at the ceiling and his hand, and their position relative to the tree. "Um, take one step towards me." His hand moved forward. She frowned, trying to judge just the right distance, and beckoned him forward again. "Onnnnne more step..."

Before he could move, there were footsteps on the stairs. Launchpad stepped back and dropped his arm, and Beth grabbed the mistletoe from him and hid it before Drake could see what they'd been doing. He looked back at her, and she shrugged; nothing they could do right now.

"Gos is going to be home soon so I thought we might as well revel in peace and quiet for the few moments that we still have it," he said. "Beth, I don't know if we told you, but Gosalyn _will_ have an almost alarming obsession on those gifts we put under the tree, so you're probably not going to want to stand there."

Rats. There went Plan C. She smiled flatly. "I have younger siblings. I know what it's like."

"You only THINK you know," Drake said. "Trust me on this one."

_To be continued..._


	4. Chapter 4

**All I Want For Christmas**

* * *

_Okay, I think this is the shortest chapter yet. I had some stuff to put up and felt like updating; sowwy. I think the next one will be longer. Would you believe I thought this story would be, in total, about half the length it is so far? This is what happens when I write. :P_

* * *

There was no Plan D; that was the problem. Beth would have to wing it. And she'd have to do so with Gosalyn around, like it or not. On the plus side, Gosalyn _was_ something of a distraction.

"I'M HOO-OOME!" The ten-year-old burst through the door and tossed her bookbag into the corner near the closet. She came to a halt midway through the room, apparently torn between examining the Christmas tree and settling down in front of the TV.

"Hey, sweetie. What's the homework look like tonight?" Drake asked from the couch.

Gosalyn turned to him with an offended expression. "Dad! There's only one more day of school before vacation, and you're thinking about _homework_?" She rolled her eyes.

"Translation: got it in every class, huh?" She screwed up her face and didn't answer. Drake nodded towards her bookbag and grinned. "Guess you better get down to it then."

"Oh, come on!"

"What?" Drake looked innocent. "There's only one more day of school before vacation, so you've got that to look forward to."

Beth turned on the couch to face Gosalyn. "Hey, I can help you with anything you need. Um, except I have to leave really soon to go shopping, but..."

Gosalyn blinked. "Oh, hey Beth. You're here again." Beth drew her brows together; it seemed like she'd heard that a lot today. "Nah, I'm okay. There's nothing I can't handle. But do I _have_ to start it right now?"

Drake thought for a second, then shook his head. "I guess as long as you start it by five o'clock."

"I will!" She turned back to the tree and rubbed her hands together, cackling. "Keen gear! The _swag_!"

"The _what_?" asked Beth.

Gosalyn looked back at her over her shoulder. "The swag. You know, the loot! The booty! The -"

"Okay, I get it." Beth had to laugh; she'd never heard a little girl use the term "swag" before.

"The goods?" suggested Launchpad.

"Yeah! The chattel!" said Gosalyn.

Drake snorted. "And yet, she gets Cs on her vocabulary quizzes."

Beth laughed again. "You know, though, 'swag' actually means stolen goods."

Drake paused, then sat up straight. "Hey!"

Gosalyn gave a good impression of a sweet and innocent girl. "Whaaaat? _I_ certainly can't vouch for how these gifts were obtained!"

"Okay, THAT'S it," said Drake in mock ire, getting to his feet and stalking towards Gosalyn. "Nobody accuses Darkwing Duck of petty theft, especially not his own daughter!"

"I dunno if I'd call that pile 'petty', DW," Launchpad put in.

Beth said, "I guess if you're worried these gifts aren't on the level, Gos, Drake can always take them all back."

"Hey! That's playing dirty!" Gosalyn looked offended.

Drake tousled Gosalyn's hair affectionately. "Better get your homework done tonight or else Beth's idea is less of a joke than you think."

"I know, I know," said Gosalyn, pushing his hand away half-heartedly. She flopped herself onto the couch, next to Launchpad, and grabbed for the remote control.

Beth shot a look at Drake, who was managing to look at Gosalyn with a combination of affection and exasperation. She loved watching him be a father; it was so wonderful to find a man like Drake, smart and active and also good with children. She checked her watch, then sighed and stood up to talk to Drake. "Hey. Um, thanks for letting me hang out here today," she said. Behind her, Launchpad and Gosalyn were talking in low voices and it was blending with the TV into a low buzz.

"Don't mention it," said Drake with a wave of his hand. "I mean, we are neighbours now, so you might as well come over." He paused. "All the time."

"I don't have to," she said, her throat going a little tight. Despite the conversation she'd had earlier with Launchpad, and the way the day had progressed, the fear of wearing out her welcome wouldn't go away. "If I stay too long just tell me-"

"Beth, you know how sometimes you ask me something, and I answer? Maaaaybe you should just believe it and stop talking," he said, his voice cheery enough. Beth laughed briefly, nervously. "So! You're on your way out? I can't interest you in any parting eggnog?" Apparently the subject was closed.

"Oh, I don't like eggnog," Beth said hastily, hoping it didn't come back to bite her this time.

"Cocoa, then. We have a ton of it."

"Oh!" Gosalyn spun around in her seat on the couch, bouncing to her knees to peer at him. "Can I have some?"

"Sure."

She looked hopeful. "The peppermint kind?"

"Me too, DW!" Launchpad said, half-turning and raising his hand.

"If we have any left. I'll have to check. Beth?" He started for the kitchen.

"Well..." She hesitated. "If you're going to be making some anyway..." Which was stupid, because he obviously was. He didn't point that out, however (for once), and just nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.

Beth stuck her hands in her pockets and immediately pulled them out again as her right hand struck the mistletoe. _Last chance!_ She couldn't let it pass her by, she just COULDN'T, not after the whole day of trying.

It occured to her that over the kitchen door was probably the best place to hang the mistletoe. She'd be sure to catch him when he came back out! She whipped out the tape and tore off the right-sized piece, then ran for the doorway. She had it firmly hung up within fifteen seconds, and then stood and waited for a much longer time.

"Umm, Beth?" asked Gosalyn, beckoning her from near the tree. Beth felt a moment of distress at the idea of leaving her post, but after a brief hesitation, she made her way over to where Gosalyn was standing. The ten-year-old threw a glance over to Launchpad, who was still on the couch, to be sure he wasn't listening. Then in a low voice, she said, "You're waiting for Dad to come out of the kitchen?"

Beth looked a little sheepish. "Is it that obvious?"

"Heck, yeah."

Beth felt herself blushing. "Well... how else am I going to go about this? This is a gift I deserve, dang it!"

Gosalyn made a face. "Okay, why does everyone think it's okay to tell me stuff like that? This is my DAD you're talking about."

"Sorry." She felt chagrined; sometimes it seemed easy to forget that Gosalyn was just a kid, and Beth found herself speaking to her as an equal. "I just... What do you mean, 'everyone'?"

"Oh, you know," said Gosalyn, her casual manner almost exaggerated, "just you, but if there were anyone else, they'd probably think so too, so everyone."

"Uh...huh." Apparently that made sense to the ten-year-old mind. Beth couldn't wrap her mind around it, but she didn't really have to. "That's fair. How about this: You don't tell your Dad about the mistletoe, and I won't mention wanting to kiss him anymore."

"You'd BETTER not," said Gosalyn, grimacing. "I've had more than enough of that mental image."

"Not me," said Beth, and grinned when Gosalyn groaned and covered her ears. That had been too easy; Gos had just walked into it, and Beth couldn't resist. She turned to get back to the door before Drake came out, but she missed it by that much. He strode on out with a platter of mugs of cocoa, and didn't even notice the mistletoe.

"Oh, dogGONE it!" she whispered fiercely.

Gosalyn looked sympathetic, but relieved. "Sorry," she said quietly, and made her way to the cocoa.

Beth meandered over to the kitchen doorway and yanked the mistletoe down while Drake was still distracted. In a way, she was glad he hadn't seen it on his way out. At least he wouldn't comment on what a silly place it was for the stuff.

She was tempted to stay and try again - it was so _frustrating_ to give up after trying so hard all day long!! But she really couldn't stay any longer, so there was no point in leaving it up. _There's always tomorrow,_ she told herself, trying not to feel like defeat was crushing her chest. If she couldn't manage it all day long today, she probably wouldn't manage it in the few hours she'd be here tomorrow night; but if she told herself often enough that she could do it, there was always the chance that she would.

The cocoa was delicious, but it burned her tongue a little.

* * *

"Attention, mall shoppers. The time is now 11:55 pm, and our stores are about to close. Please, have a lovely evening and a happy holiday!"

Beth hated the voice on that intercom. She was sitting, exhausted, on a fixture in the center of the mall with her head hanging down towards her lap. Nothing. She hadn't been able to find a _thing_ for Drake.

At least she'd finished her shopping for everyone else... But... Drake's gift was the most important one, and she just couldn't FIND it!

She was so tired that the whole ordeal had her near tears. There was nothing else for it; she'd have to come back the next day, as early as possible. She wasn't due over at the Mallard's until 5 pm; they'd said "any time", but she couldn't be too late for dinner or else she'd hold them up, and even though she doubted they ate at 5 pm sharp she still didn't want to take the chance.

Still, if she was going to spend as much time at the mall tomorrow as she had today, she'd need a heck of a head start. Rubbing her eyes, Beth stood and headed unsteadily for the doors, hoping a cab was nearby. It was late, and she didn't want to bother with the bus. At least she could fall asleep a bit on the ride home; she didn't feel like she could keep her eyes open much longer if she tried.

On the ride home, she dreamed of Drake's face when he opened her gift. His expression was full of surprise and delight, and - yes - something more; but try as she might, she couldn't see what the gift was that had made him feel that way.

* * *

The light looked wrong when Beth woke up the next morning. She fumbled for the clock, squinting as she pulled it close enough to see, and nearly dropped it when it came into focus.

"11:42?! I overslept!" she yelped, scrambling out of bed and making a dash for the shower.

By the time she emerged, she felt a bit better, a bit less rushed. Sure, she'd have to rearrange her day a little bit because of the late start, but it wasn't as if anything was set in stone. She was lucky that she worked from home, so it was impossible for her to be late for that; all she was really late for was her supposed "early start" in finishing her shopping. And, she had to admit, she felt much better after getting a full night's sleep.

She should call Drake though, just to let him and the others know that she might be a little bit late that evening. As always, her heartbeat sped up as she dialed - one of these days, she'd be able to face the possibility of talking to Drake without breaking into a sweat - but she ignored it in light of the great day she'd spent with him yesterday.

Her throat froze up on her when the phone was picked up, but opened up immediately when the person answering spoke. "Yello?"

"Launchpad!" In sharp contrast to speaking with Drake, she found speaking to Launchpad to be incredibly easy. "It's Beth!"

"Hey! You're still comin' for dinner, right?"

She grinned. "Of course! No, I'm just calling to let you guys know I might be a little late. I've gotten a late start on finishing up my shopping and I'm just about to leave now."

"Sure, I'll let DW know. Don't think it'll be a problem. Hey, you want company?"

"I would _love_ it," she said earnestly. Launchpad was Drake's best friend; if anyone could give her feedback on gift ideas, it was him. And, she had to admit, she did enjoy just being around him. There had been very few people in her life who put her so at ease. He was practically the only person she'd ever known who seemed genuinely willing to listen to her talk, no matter what she was talking about.

"Great!" he said happily. "C'mon over and we'll drive out to the mall."


	5. Chapter 5

**All I Want For Christmas**

* * *

_Okay; this chapter wasn't even in the original outline. But then again that can be said of a lot of this fic; it's just happened as I write it. In this case I was figuring out a few days ago how to flesh out my outline and Launchpad invited himself into the scene; worse, any time I put Beth and LP alone in the same room they take over. So this isn't even exactly as I thought it would go when I planned it out in my head a few days ago. Crazy kids!_

* * *

"So Gosalyn gave me this list of ten or eleven things she wanted, and I chose off of that, which was fine," Beth said from her position in the front passenger seat. Launchpad, behind the wheel, was trying to split his attention between her and the road. She had to be honest and admit that she sort of wished he'd just watch the road and not her, but at least he was attentive. "But then a few days later I found out that she'd actually given me _my page_ of a list with about 12 pages! I don't know how to tell her that she's only getting one thing from it!" She started laughing.

Launchpad joined her. "Heh heh - yeah, that's how she gets. She knows not to expect ya to get her the whole page, though, don't worry." He turned to look at her again, and her stomach pitched a little bit as he drifted towards a mailbox. "That's the kinda thing she only really gets from family." He turned back to the road and easily righted the car's trajectory, as if he was used to driving this way.

Beth smiled to herself, considering that statement. She certainly wouldn't mind being a part of Gosalyn's family. She wondered, briefly, if Gosalyn would ever call her "Mom" if she and Drake were to... She didn't let herself finish the thought. It felt like she was jinxing it. "Well, so anyway, Gosalyn was easy to shop for. In her way," she added, considering the fact that the item on the list that had the most "Get Me THIS" stars next to it had been sold out of three out of the four toy stores she'd gone to. "And I got my parents taken care of, and my brothers and sisters." And, she didn't say aloud, she'd finished her shopping for Launchpad. He'd been another easy one. A new pair of flight goggles and a gift card at Pizza Pierre's, and she knew he'd be thrilled with it. "All I'm missing is Drake. And that's why I'm _so_ grateful to you for coming with me, Launchpad."

"No problemo," he said, nodding. "But I dunno what to tell ya. You were really there all night last night?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "I just couldn't find the exact right thing."

He turned the car into the mall parking lot and commenced the lengthy search for a parking space. "I think we're probably gonna have to walk a little ways," he said offhandedly. Switching back to the topic at hand, he said, "Ya don't think maybe your standards are a _little_ bit... high?"

"Probably," she agreed honestly. "But this gift is really important. It has to say a lot."

"Yeah," he agreed, a bit heavily.

She scrambled, feeling somewhat defensive. "Not - it's not supposed to be _romantic_. I don't want him to look at it and know I'm crazy in love with him. I just want him to look at it and know that I'm really smart and intriguing and worth knowing. I want it to say 'Beth Webfoot is cool'."

Launchpad thought about that for a moment. "So ya want it to talk?"

"...What?"

* * *

The walk from the parking lot to the mall was a bit on the long side, and the day was both chilly and windy. Beth pulled her arms and neck so far into her coat that she felt like she was just hopping by the time they reached the doors to the mall. The inside, however, was positively toasty.

"Nice in here," said Launchpad, apparently appreciative of both the decorations and the warmth.

"Y-yeah," Beth said, shivering. She was too thin to put up with low temperatures; if it weren't for that, winter would probably have been her favourite season. Launchpad noticed her discomfort and put an arm around her shoulders. "I'm f-fine," she said sheepishly, but when he didn't remove his arm, she didn't feel any need to pull away from it. "Okay! Any thoughts on where to start?"

"Well..." Launchpad looked around the mall as though he could see the whole layout from where he stood if he just looked hard enough. "Um, there a map around here anywhere?"

Beth cracked a smile. "Yeah, it's over there. See where that huge crowd has gathered and started pushing each other around?"

He peered down the hall. "Yeah."

"That would be the map." She grinned at him. "I usually just sort of take it store-by-store, stop in if I see one that looks good."

"Works for me!" As they started walking, Launchpad asked, "You eat yet?"

* * *

Beth checked her watch; it was already almost 1:30, and they hadn't actually done any shopping yet. Amazingly, she didn't really mind too much; Launchpad was too much fun to be with. And, as he'd pointed out, she probably would shop better on a full stomach.

"Thanks for the milkshakes," she said, trying to finish hers off. "I haven't had one of these in _years_. My mom always said they were bad for me."

"Nah, chocolate's not bad for anyone," Launchpad said cheerfully.

Beth considered. "Well, probably it's not too good for someone who's allergic to it. Or to milk, I mean, if it's milk chocolate..."

"That's true. I didn't think of that." Beth was struck by this, since most people just seemed to tune her out when she started verbalizing thoughts like that. He turned to her almost anxiously all of a sudden. "You're not-"

"Allergic? No, I'd probably be dead if I were, what with all the cocoa I've been having the past couple of days." Something about the question, and needless concern, struck her as cute.

"Oh yeah. Guess I forgot that." He chuckled. "Okay! Where are we goin'?"

"Well..." She turned about, looking at the nearby stores. "Think there would be anything in the tea store there?"

"Nah, he's more of a coffee guy. How 'bout the movie memorabilia store?"

She shook her head. "Oh no, that's too impersonal. ANYone could get him a movie."

"Hm." He scratched his head. "Well, I guess we should keep goin' to see what other stores there are..."

"Yeah." She sighed. "Of course I went through them all last night. Well, I'm sure together we'll have some good ideas."

They stopped in a candle store, which Beth dismissed again as too perfumey; the sporting goods store was too rugged, she felt, although Launchpad mentioned that he liked camping. It just wasn't what she was looking for.

Standing in the middle of a store playing loud - yet oddly quiet - Celtic Christmas carols, Launchpad watched Beth poke around in a large bin of oddly-cut crystals. "Y'know," he began, awkwardly, and then stopped.

"Hm?" She looked up from the bin, to see him looking at his feet. "Did you say something?"

"Well..." He looked up, and she went back to the crystals. "They say that Christmas is the time to tell people your feelings."

Beth's breath caught. She looked up at him quickly, her eyes wide. "You think I should just go ahead and tell him I love him?" she breathed, her heart thudding. "I couldn't. I _couldn't_. I mean, I could see how it could be kind of a good idea, because then at least it would just be OUT there, but I couldn't put myself out there like that and be rejected. Do you think he'd reject - no. Don't answer that. Just... no. I have to wait. I think if I tried to tell him how I feel, I'd _die_." She looked down, staring at the crystals, and her heart rate started slowing back as she caught her breath. "I can't."

Launchpad paused for a moment - God, she'd really overreacted and made a fool of herself - and then said, "Okay." He turned around, and when she looked up at him, he was looking at the windchimes, incense, and tiny fountains that populated the space they were in. "What's this store sell, exactly?"

She tried to recover herself, thanking him silently for just changing the subject. "Relaxation?" She looked at him hopefully. "Drake needs to relax and unwind sometimes..."

"Well, yeah..." Launchpad looked uncertain. "Uh, but I think he usually thinks this stuff is kinda... out there."

Beth nodded, sighing, and exited the store. "What's 'usually' mean?" she asked.

"Oh, well, sometimes DW goes on these sorta... kicks. And once he went on a relaxation kick and did all this meditatin' and nature sounds stuff. It, ah, didn't really work out for him." He chuckled lightly. "Actually it just irritated him so much that it got him even more stressed out."

Beth laughed, and shook her head. "Well, it doesn't make him any easier to shop for..."

They tried the men's section of a department store. "Bath robe?" Launchpad suggested.

"That's sort of too personal."

"Tie rack?"

"Not personal enough. And does he even _wear_ ties?"

"Well, not really..." He looked around. "I guess no socks, huh?"

Beth smiled almost sadly. "I'd rather not." She sighed. "I'm sorry! I'm probably driving you up the wall. I bet you've never had this problem, trying to impress a girl you liked. You've probably never had any trouble getting a girl's attention," she said teasingly.

Launchpad shrugged. "Well, there was this one girl..." he said slowly. He slowed down and stopped, and Beth did the same. "I really liked her... y'know, like, more than anyone else. But she was kinda hung up on another guy."

"Oh," Beth said awkwardly. "That's so sad. I'm sorry." Launchpad smiled and shrugged. "Did it ever work out? Did she -" She stopped herself, then started again. "Did you ever tell her how you felt?"

"I tried. Kinda. Never really went the right way."

"Oh," she said again. For some reason it just seemed incredibly sad, probably because she could identify so strongly. It seemed that all of her love history had gone exactly that way. "Well, she - she probably wasn't worth it, then." She nodded firmly; that was what her friends (friends, ha, just barely) had told her when she'd had her heart broken, and this was too awkward not to say anything.

"Aw, it wasn't her fault," Launchpad began, but Beth cut him off.

"No. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up. Let's just... let's move on." She started walking again, and Launchpad followed a moment later, taking long steps to catch up with her. "I'm sorry," she said again.

"It's nothin'," he said, and sounded as if he meant it. She realized that she was much more upset by this story than he was, and felt embarrassed. He touched her elbow gently. "Hey, don't worry about it, okay?"

She nodded, her face burning. "I'm fine." She took a deep breath and blew it out, willing all the bad feelings to go out with it. Attempting a smile, and surprising herself by succeeding, she said, "Really."

They entered the "evening wear" section. Beth stared at leather gloves, silk cravats, and canes. The image of Drake in a tuxedo was not an entirely unpleasant one, although she couldn't possibly afford that. She stopped near a jewelry case that was housing, among other things, sets of cufflinks. "Hey, what about these?"

"Huh?" Launchpad came up behind her. "Earrings?"

Beth giggled. "No! They're cufflinks!" She turned to him. "Does he wear cufflinks?"

"Well... I guess if he has to get dressed up, then yeah. Oh, and he wears 'em on his costume, but those are customized."

Beth nodded. "It would be sort of a longshot, I mean, how often does he get dressed up? But then when he did, he'd wear them and he'd think of me." She wasn't talking to Launchpad anymore; in fact, she wasn't even entirely aware that she was speaking out loud. "Yeah. The kind of thing that you don't have to use all the time but you know that it's there when you need it - the kind of thing you can depend on to _make_ your outfit. It's..." She shrugged. "Well, it's not really what I had in mind, I'll be honest. But it'll do, right?"

"Uh, sure?" said Launchpad uncertainly.

"Great." She checked her watch. "It's nearly 3:30. Let's get this done and get out of here. I'm _sick_ of this mall!"

* * *

"What a relief!" she said as they approached the doors they'd entered through. She buttoned up her coat, beaming. "It may not be ideal but I'm just so glad to get this DONE! You have no idea how much this has been weighing on me-"

Just before they reached the doors, Launchpad caught her hand. "Hang on a sec." His face was serious; she'd never seen him look so serious.

"What is it?"

He looked down, at her hand as he held it, at the floor, then up at her face. "Beth, I gotta tell you something."

She grew a bit alarmed, and stepped closer to him, unconsciously taking a firmer grip on his hand. Around them, people swarmed in and out of the mall, but Launchpad just looked at her with that serious face, and she waited for him to say whatever it was.

"Beth - ever since we met -"

It was as far as he got. A woman who looked nearly as big as Herb Muddlefoot pushed between them, suddenly, breaking them apart as her two children followed her. "People have to walk here!" she shot back over her shoulder as she lumbered her way through the doors and into the parking lot.

Beth glared at her as she disappeared. "I can't BELIEVE people! Can you believe that? And this is supposed to be the 'most wonderful time of the year'. Boy, the nerve!" She turned back to Launchpad, who looked a little dazed. "Well, but to be honest I guess we probably _are_ kind of in the way here. Maybe we should go to the car?"

He nodded. "Yeah, okay."

It was, at least, a little bit warmer than it had been when they'd arrived, and not as windy. Beth still felt like her fingertips were frostbitten when they reached the car, but at least her beak didn't feel like it was going to fall off this time.

The car warmed slowly, and Beth sat blowing on her hands as she waited for the temperature to go up. They were both quiet, even as Launchpad pulled out of the parking lot and started home. She thought about what he'd said inside; it nagged at her.

Breaking the silence, she began, "Launchpad?"

"Yeah?"

"What you said in there..." He gave her one of the looks that made her wish he were watching the road instead of her, but she ignored her nervousness. "I have to ask you... Do you really think the cufflinks will be okay?"

He turned his head back to the traffic, looking - she thought - a little perplexed. Then he laughed. "I think they'll be fine."

"Oh, good." She breathed another sigh of relief. "It feels _so good_ to get this taken care of!" Launchpad threw her a grin, which she returned. "Oh - sorry, you were gonna say something, weren't you?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I don't remember."

"Really?" She sat forward. "It looked like it was important."

"Aw, it'll come back to me sooner or later," he assured her. More quietly, he added, "Maybe next year." He smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

**All I Want For Christmas**

* * *

_A/N: Oh, let's see. One more chapter after this one, I think. At some point in the future I will have a story featuring Beth's family and her relationship with them. I will say that they're not quite as bad as Beth paints them here; remember, this is just her perspective on them, and it's not very forgiving. Meanwhile, THANK YOU EVERYONE for the feedback on this fic as I've been going. This is by far the most reviews I've ever gotten for a DW story here, and while it's pretty paltry compared to what some of the fics here get I am thrilled. Thank you thank you thank you. _

* * *

"Okay, ya comin' in?"

Beth stepped out of the car and shook her head. "I have to get this home, and wrap it, and get the other things wrapped and stuff." She rolled her eyes. "Though it seems silly to wrap them up when they'll be unwrapped in another hour or so."

"Nah, don't worry 'bout it tonight!" said Launchpad. "What time are ya leavin' tomorrow?"

"Oh, early. By 10 am."

Grinning, he said, "That's not that early! Just come over tomorrow mornin' before you go, we'll swap gifts then."

It would be easier, but... "Are you sure that'll be okay with Drake?" she asked hesitantly, and then ducked her head, embarrased, before he could speak. "Never mind. I won't ask that anymore. I'll be there."

"Great! So, ya comin' in?"

She laughed. "No, I still need to get this one home and get ready. I'll be back soon." Impulsively, she flung an arm around him and hugged him. "Thanks so much for coming with me."

"Aw... No problemo. Any time." He hugged her in return, smoothing his hand over her back, and she pressed her face against his coat and smiled.

A moment later, she pulled back from him and waved. "Okay, see you soon!" He waved back as she dashed down the sidewalk to her house. She let herself in and tore into the bag containing Drake's gift, to see if she still approved. It was... still not perfect, but she had no more time, and it would do. She looked closely at it and tried to tell herself she wasn't disappointed. Really, it would be fine, he'd like it, and there were other ways to get herself noticed by Drake anyway.

Just over fifteen minutes later, she raced back along the sidewalk under the darkening sky, slowing as she reached the base of the sidewalk leading up to the Mallards' house. She couldn't seem too eager; she assumed a reasonable pace, and smoothed her hair down. The truth was, of course, that she was _far_ too eager. This was as good as her holiday was likely to get, and she'd been looking forward to it ever since Launchpad and Gosalyn had suggested it a week and a half ago... Even more so since Drake had said that sounded fine. "Fine" had never had such a wonderful ring to it.

She hesitated before ringing the bell, well aware that she'd been told repeatedly by Launchpad that she could just come on in. Her hand hovered over the doorbell, then floated over to the doorknob, lingered, and shifted back to the doorbell. She sighed and pressed the button.

Gosalyn answered the door, lazily unlatching it with one hand and beckoning her in with the other. "Da-ad, Beth's here!" she yelled over her shoulder, wandering away from the door. Beth entered awkwardly behind her, wondering if she should take the liberty of hanging her coat up in the closet on her own. "So didja bring dessert?" Gosalyn asked, showing a bit more interest than she had a moment ago.

"Oh. Yep!" Beth held up the bowl she'd brought from home as Drake came down the stairs.

Gosalyn came closer and peered at it. "Hey, cool! Jell-O! We usually only have that in summer!"

"_Jell-O_?" said Drake as he reached the landing, somewhat incredulously. He looked at the bowl, then gave Beth an odd look. "Ever hear of Christmas cookies?"

"Oh, lighten up, Dad," Gosalyn said, smacking him lightly on the arm. "Not everyone is a Christmas Perfectionist."

Beth's smile faltered. "Um, I'm sorry. I can't... Uh, I can't cook," she said uncomfortably.

Drake took the bowl from her and, looking it over, shrugged as if it _might_ be okay. "You know, they have these things now called recipes. It's crazy, but I heard if you follow them, the food practically makes _itself_."

"Oh, brother," muttered Gosalyn, rolling her eyes on her way back to the couch.

"I use recipes! I mean, I try to." Beth waited a moment longer to be sure no one was going to reprimand her for jumping the gun, then shrugged her way out of her coat. "It's not that I can't prepare food. I can, I just can't... cook. Like with a stove. Anything hot and I burn it." She blushed. "I mean... I _really_ burn it."

Gosalyn was peering at her over the back of the couch, and Drake looked like he'd swallowed a mouthful of something and couldn't quite place the taste. "So... what do you... _eat?_" Gosalyn asked carefully.

"Well, a lot of sandwiches. Oh, and microwave stuff. I can cook in the microwave..." She trailed off, looking uncomfortable again. "Sometimes." There was the kitchen in her old house - she'd never quite gotten it to smell normal again... "Not popcorn."

"And you do... take the food _out_ of the oven?" asked Drake, sounding perplexed.

"Of course!" Beth wanted to shrink away. She considered putting her coat back on and leaving, although she knew she was overreacting and so she forced herself to stay her ground. "I've tried taking food out early, I've tried cooking at a lower temperature, it doesn't work! First it's not done enough, then it's burned. It's crazy!"

"That's not possible," Drake said, shaking his head. "There must be something wrong with your oven. You should have it looked at." Beth decided not to protest that it had happened at both her old house and the current one; that would just make her look worse. Instead she nodded sheepishly. "In the meantime, you can help us with dinner. Maybe you'll pick up a few tips or something."

"Really?" She perked up immediately, and hung her coat up as Drake took the bowl of Jell-O into the kitchen. She'd no sooner started to follow him than she remembered the mistletoe, still in the pocket of her pants; suddenly it seemed to be burning a hole in them. As soon as Drake was out of the room she poked at Gosalyn. "Gos! What's the best place to put the -"

"Don't ask me!" Gosalyn said, covering her ears. "I am NOT involved in this!"

Beth sighed. "Fine." She looked around, trying to make up her own mind, but Drake stuck his head back out from the kitchen door.

"Beth? Did you want to help or just survey the room?"

"Coming!" she said quickly, and scurried into the kitchen.

* * *

"FIRE!" screamed Gosalyn, running around the kitchen with a big fire extinguisher. Beth stood quietly at the back of the room, twisting her hands unhappily as Launchpad and Drake waved the smoke away from the oven. Gosalyn ran over and aimed the fire extinguisher into the oven's opening.

"NO, Gos! Don't--" exclaimed Drake, but before he could stop her, she had doused the inside with the contents of the extinguisher. The food was included in what was sprayed. Drake stood still for a moment. "Oh well, it wasn't exactly edible anymore anyway," he said finally.

"I'm sorry," said Beth sorrowfully. "I _told_ you I can't cook!"

"Ah, the stove's probably not workin' right... I better take a look at it," said Launchpad. "That was weird... Beth wasn't even really cookin' anything, she was just keepin' an eye on the food."

"I'm a curse, that's what it is. Even having me in the room ruins the food!"

There was a pause among them all, during which Drake, Launchpad, and Gosalyn all looked at each other silently while Beth looked at the floor. Then all three of them tried to reassure her, a bit too hastily. She refused it. "No, it's true! I ruined our dinner!"

"That's okay, Beth, it was just meatloaf," said Drake. "We can just order a pizza or something."

"Kean gear! Pizza! Better than meatloaf any day!" yelled Gosalyn, waving a fist in the air. "Way to go, Beth!"

Beth shifted uncomfortably; Gosalyn's exuberance didn't make her feel any better. Launchpad patted her on the shoulder, and she turned to him to try and express the depths of her guilt. "I'm so sorry," she said again.

"Hey, it's okay!" he said kindly. "Like DW said, it's just meatloaf. Besides, this isn't so bad! It's not like ya ruined Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner!"

Beth wailed and put her hands over her face. Launchpad, surprised, patted her shoulder again. "Whoops," he said quietly.

Drake, who had been grumbling under his breath as he tried to get as many windows open as he could, stopped and sighed. "Well, what do we want on the pizza, then?"

Gosalyn bounced. "Can we get two?"

"I guess so," Drake answered, apparently counting the four of them and trying to estimate how much each person would eat. Beth had seen Launchpad eat an entire pizza himself at one point, so she was surprised he'd had to think about it. "Two larges, what toppings?" He turned to Beth for input, but she just shrugged.

"Can we get pineapple?" asked Gosalyn eagerly.

Drake made a face. "Eugh... I guess so. On ONE of them."

"I like pineapple!" said Launchpad.

"I can make a salad," offered Beth, in the hopes of making amends and bringing back Drake's earlier, more easygoing attitude.

"Huh? Oh, that'll be fine," said Drake distractedly.

"What about ham?" put in Gosalyn.

Drake turned to her. "You're on one of your 'weird topping' kicks again, huh?"

"Ham and pineapple are NOT weird!" she said defensively.

"Do you have any romaine lettuce?" asked Beth. It was starting to get pretty loud in here...

"Well, they _taste_ weird. Check the fridge," he added, to Beth.

"How about anchovies?"

"Ugh! No!"

"I like anchovies!" said Launchpad.

"Yeah, Launchpad likes 'em!"

Drake grumbled. "I believe I already gave my answer..."

"Drake?"

"NO, no anchovies! I mean - what, Beth?"

"D-do you have... um, dried cranberries?"

Drake stopped cold. "What? On a pizza?!"

"Okay, _that_ is weird," said Gosalyn in a tone that implied concession of defeat.

"No! No no, for the salad!"

"Ohhh." Drake relaxed. "Getting kind of _loud_ in here," he said meaningly, looking sidelong at Gosalyn. "Uh, I don't know about the cranberries, check the pantry. What kind of salad are you making?"

"Family recipe," answered Beth, slowly checking various cupboards in search of the pantry and trying not to be too obvious about it.

Gosalyn gave it one last shot. "So one ham and pineapple and one anchovies?"

"One ham and pineapple and one pepperoni and mushroom, young lady, and don't even _think_ about ordering while I'm out of the room."

"Drake...?"

"Whaaaaat?" he asked in a final, drawn-out expression.

Beth started to rethink her decision to make the salad. She cringed a little, but he relaxed and gave her a tight smile. "You don't... have any goat cheese, do you?"

* * *

"...And with that, in one great battle, I defeated Megavolt for the first time and met my destiny in so doing," Drake finished. He paused dramatically in the retelling of his encounter with Megavolt at his senior prom, then climbed down from his chair and had a seat, looking pleased with himself.

Beth was entranced. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Gosalyn looking bored, but Beth thought she'd never heard such a rousing story. Gos had probably just heard it a few times already. "So that was the first time you ever fought crime at all?"

"Well, aside from a few memorable moments in my childhood, yes." Drake was undeniably pleased by her reaction to his recounting. "Wanna hear about those?"

"Please say no," said Gosalyn in a stage whisper.

Drake glared at her. "Perhaps it's getting near someone's bed time," he said warningly. Gosalyn batted her eyelashes innocently.

"I would love to hear about them..." said Beth truthfully, but she sensed that the mood in the dining room was not entirely in accord with her feeling. "Maybe next time?"

"It's a date," said Drake affably, and Beth's heart started pounding again. _Mistletoe,_ she thought, _where am I gonna put that mistletoe...?_ Compared to the day before she barely was thinking about it, but every so often it jumped to the foreground of her thoughts and set about redecorating the inside of her head with self-portraits and sculptures of itself. "So, Beth, how about you? We don't know a lot about your life before we met you."

She was surprised, so surprised that she couldn't speak for a moment. "M-me?" she stammered when she'd recovered. "You... you don't want to know about _me_."

"Sure we do!" said Launchpad enthusiastically. "What's your family like?"

Beth thought. She and her older sister had what could only be described as a hostile relationship, her interactions with her mother were strained at best, and there was such an age gap between herself and her younger siblings that she felt like she barely knew them. What could she say? "We're just, you know, your average family."

Launchpad pressed onward. "Are they all as smart as you?"

"Oh," said Beth, blushing rather happily, "I'm not -" She stopped herself; if there was one thing she was forced to acknowledge about herself, it was that she _was_ indeed "that smart". "Um, intellect isn't really too important in my family," she said, which was true. No one had thought much of her intellectual accomplishments when she was growing up. She tilted her head, picking her words carefully.

"My mother is -" A hot-tempered, Irish busybody who likes to micromanage her childrens' lives. "- Irish... My dad likes to take photographs." This was true, to the point where Beth avoided him at family gatherings. "Let's see, I have an older sister - she's the pretty one in the family," a fact she had never let Beth forget, "and one older brother who is -" Dumber than a post? " - a real, um, sports enthusiast. Loves football. Then I have two younger siblings, a brother and a sister. They're both close to Gosalyn's age." She couldn't stand any more questions; something was bound to slip out, and she wasn't ready to let them know the truth about her family just yet. "So!" she said suddenly, and Launchpad and Gosalyn both jumped. "What's the one thing you guys would really really like most for Christmas?"

Drake, who had been leaning his head on his hand, blinked at the sudden change of subject. "Huh?"

It had been the first thing that came into her head, and perhaps she hadn't articulated it particularly well. "You know, if you could have _any_thing."

Gosalyn said, "I want an official Red Ryder carbine-action two-hundred-shot range model air rifle."

"No. You'll shoot your eye out," said Drake casually, taking a sip of his coffee. Then he added, "Not to mention most of the windows in the house."

"I will _not_," Gosalyn said, crossing her arms and sulking.

Launchpad thought. "I dunno. I'd kinda like to upgrade some of the tools I got lyin' around for workin' on the TQ... Some of 'em are pretty old. That's about all I can think of, though." He shrugged. "How 'bout you, Beth?"

"Oh, me?" She hadn't actually given it any thought; the mistletoe still comprised most of what she wanted this year, and consequently she had no idea what to answer. "Um - world peace?"

"Oh, please. That's _cheating_, Beth," said Gosalyn. She did not, Beth noted, actually ask what Beth _really_ wanted - presumably because she already knew.

"Okay, um..." She thought hard. "I'd like... I'd like a good set of encyclopedias, actually. Something that's at least twelve volumes long. Sixteen would be even better."

"Wow," said Launchpad. He sounded impressed. "Okay, DW?"

Drake shook his head. "The only thing I want," he said in the voice he used when Darkwing Duck was saying something incredibly dramatic, "is a crime-free city." He let that linger in the air as everyone took it in, then added, "And to help accomplish that I'd love to have the latest software to organize my criminal database, but S.H.U.S.H. won't pony up for it."

"Awww, why not?" Beth asked.

He waved his hand. "Ah, something about paperwork. They provide me with the hardware, but only what they deem necessary. And software I usually have to get my hands on myself, unless they hear about it and decide it's worthwhile."

"Wow, I didn't know they supplied you with things anyway," she said. "What kind is it that you were looking at? I might -"

"It's $800, Beth," he said, cutting her off. She fell silent. "It's just a program that makes the database more searchable. I wouldn't have to go through each individual criminal's file or look among only one kind of identifying feature at a time. There's a program out now that would let me look at, say, fingerprints _and_ dental records at the same time and compare between them."

"Oh." That actually sounded really easy; she wasn't sure why it cost so much. "Well, that's neat!" she said, for lack of anything else to say.

Drake got up then to check the time, and Beth cleared the dinner table while no one was looking and was halfway through doing the dishes before Launchpad found her and dragged her away. "But it's really quick, and I burned dinner-!" she protested.

"Nope, I don't wanna hear it!" he said, steering her for the couch. She'd just dropped, laughing, onto the middle cushion when Drake came through looking business-like.

"We're still patrolling tonight," he said to Launchpad, who nodded.

"Now?"

Drake shrugged. "Maybe ten minutes. Beth, you're welcome to stay late if you want. We'll be out all night though - you know the drill."

It had been so long since Beth had been by late in the evening that she'd nearly forgotten about the patrolling. Her heart sank; she'd let the mistletoe go for too long and there would likely be no more chances. "Oh... okay..." She thought, wracking her brains at high speed for an idea - _any_ idea - to keep him longer, and lure him underneath the sprig. She came up blank, and started to feel miserable.

"But you - you can't go out yet, Drake, you've... isn't that movie on tonight, the one you were saying you wanted to watch?" she tried desperately.

Drake looked confused. "What movie?"

"Um..." She couldn't think of one. "I guess - I must be thinking of something else." She sprang up from the couch. "Hey, before you go, maybe you can get me something from the kitchen?" Launchpad, still sitting on the couch next to where she'd been, looked up at her intently.

Drake sighed. "I really need to get going, Beth, is it quick?"

"It's quick," she said, and tried to think of what she might need. "It's just... Don't you still have my... cheese plate?"

She knew perfectly well she'd never brought a cheese plate over to their house; she didn't even own one. Drake's brow furrowed. "Cheese plate? I don't remember a -"

"I think we do have that, DW," said Launchpad, rising to his feet. "Wasn't it about so big?" he indicated with his hands.

"Yes!" She stared at him gratefully. "You've got it!"

"Sure," said Launchpad, and nudged Drake towards the door to the kitchen. "Let's go look real quick."

As soon as they'd left, Beth breathed a sigh of relief and dug the mistletoe - by now looking rather abused - out of her pocket. She jumped up onto the couch and smacked it onto the ceiling a few feet away, wobbling dangerously as she did.

Gosalyn, watching from one of the chairs that concealed the passageway, said, "Good job on that."

"Thanks!" said Beth, grinning as she caught her breath. She owed Launchpad something - she didn't know what, but it would be something _good_.

"Only thing is, how're you gonna get him under it?"

Beth dropped her hands to her sides as she realized she had no plan for that part, and lost her balance on the couch. She stumbled off the cushions, nearly falling over, and resolved herself. "I'll just have to... " She took a deep breath. "I'll just have to point it out to him," she said, her voice choking.

Gosalyn's eyebrows went up. "This I gotta see."

Beth felt as though the oxygen were going out of the room as she positioned herself under the plastic plant. The floor seemed to be swaying as she called, in an unsteady voice, "Hey - Drake? Never mind... I think it's at my house!"

Any moment he'd come out of the kitchen. Any moment he'd pass her way, and she knew she would say it. She would say "Look, someone hung the mistletoe up here" or something similar - whatever happened to come out of her mouth at the moment, which hopefully would involve the word "mistletoe" - and she would do it. She would make it happen.

The kitchen door began to swing open, and the sprig of mistletoe unstuck itself from the ceiling and bounced off of her head to the floor just as Drake entered the room. Her stomach fell, and she swore she heard a crash as the world seemed to collapse around her.

"I knew it," said Drake, looking less than happy as Launchpad trailed behind him. Beth, in some corner of her mind, understood that she should bend down and pick up the mistletoe before he saw it, but she couldn't seem to do it. "I _knew_ I hadn't seen any cheese plates around here."

Launchpad looked at her questioningly over Drake's head. She couldn't even manage to shake her head. It was just - too much. "You okay?" he asked, and she wished she could have stopped him, but she couldn't do _anything_.

"Wow," said Gosalyn, from the chairs. "That was brutal."

"What was?" asked Drake. He waved a hand in front of Beth's face. "Beth? Anybody home?"

She blinked herself out of it. "I- I'm fine. Sorry. I guess... I should go." She turned to get her coat.

"Are you going to take your dessert bowl?" asked Drake, somewhat incredulously. It probably did seem odd that she'd leave that when she'd appeared so agitated over her non-existant cheese plate, but...

"I'll get it tomorrow," she said flatly, without turning. As she put her coat on, she heard Drake say, "Hey!"

She turned to check, and he'd bent over and was just standing up. "I've been looking for this!" he said, holding up the sprig of mistletoe that had betrayed her.

Launchpad shot her a meaningful look, and sort of inclined his head, indicating she should come back over. But it was too much; she couldn't bear it. She smiled sadly and shrugged, then waved goodbye. "See you guys."

"Night, Beth! Thanks for the pizza!" said Gosalyn.

"Want me to walk ya home?" asked Launchpad, as Drake dragged a chair from the dining room to stick the mistletoe up someplace.

She shook her head. "No. I'll see you tomorrow." She waved as Drake called a quick "Good night!", apparently having forgotten patrolling for the moment.


	7. Chapter 7

**All I Want For Christmas**

* * *

_This really is just one chapter but I decided to split it up, in the interest of a) updating sooner and b) not having a monstrously long chapter. As a result, this one ends abruptly; sorry about that. There will be notes following the final bit - probably long ones, at that. I'm going to try to get that up before tomorrow night._

* * *

It snowed that night. In the morning, the sun glinted off of the layer that covered the lawn and sidewalk, and Beth squinted her way down the sidewalk and watched her breath billow out in front of her as she walked, clutching two over-sized suitcases.

She was exhausted. After arriving home last night she'd wallowed in disappointment for nearly a half an hour before beginning to feel better. It dawned on her, finally, that she was overreacting - probably something to do with the adrenaline crash. Despite feeling better, she still felt a bitter knot of disappointment in her stomach, and after wrapping all the gifts she had for her family and friends, she still couldn't get to sleep.

The idea of the software Drake had described popped into her head; it really shouldn't be too hard of a program to write, she thought, so she started up her computer and began working on it. Once she got started, it was easy - albeit time-consuming. It was past 3 a.m. when she finished, and she'd copied the program onto a diskette and then slid into bed with her eyelids aching. The alarm had gone off far too soon.

She stopped at the door. It was just past 9 a.m. Surely no one would expect her to just walk in at this hour of the morning, right? But... She hesitated again, then shook her head and compromised by knocking and opening the door simultaneously, poking her head through it carefully.

"Hello? Um... good morning?"

From overhead came a sudden series of thuds, which Beth identified as running footsteps just before Gosalyn appeared at the top of the stairs and rushed down it. "Wahoo! Presents!" she bellowed. Beth was so startled that she nearly backed out of the house again and shut the door. Before she could move, however, Gosalyn reached her and yanked the door open wide. "Hey!" she said breathlessly.

"Hey," Beth returned, as best as she could. After looking at Gosalyn for a moment, taking in the grinning, wide-eyed girl, Beth added, "How many candy canes this morning?"

"Only five!" said Gosalyn defensively.

"Thought so." Beth smiled and moved into the house, lugging the bags into a corner.

"You sound just like Dad," observed Gosalyn, her tone implying that that was a pronouncement of doom. "So! Which one's mine?"

Beth looked up. "Huh?"

Gosalyn indicated the bags. "Those! Which has my presents in it? I'll help you with it."

"How... thoughtful."

"Least I could do," said Gosalyn kindly.

"This one is my stuff. I just told the taxi to pick me up from here in about 25 minutes. And this one," she indicated the slightly larger one, "has everyone's presents in it."

Gosalyn nodded, and reached for it. "Come to mama!"

Beth laughed and grabbed it herself. "Thanks, but I think I can take care of it on my own!"

"Rats," said Gosalyn, affecting a sulk.

Eyeing the room, Beth asked idly, "So where's your father?"

"Probably finishing off the first pot of coffee." Gosalyn started towards the kitchen, shouting, "HEY DAD! YOU TOLD ME TO TELL YOU WHEN BETH GETS HERE!" She turned back suddenly, and pointed to a corner of the room near the tree. "It's over there," she said abruptly, "and I still think you're nuts."

Beth followed Gosalyn's finger and saw the mistletoe hanging squarely - and quite firmly - from the ceiling. She looked at it longingly, but turned away as Drake entered the room.

"Thank you as always for your refined announcement of the guest, Gos," said Drake, who was indeed holding a half-full mug of coffee. "Morning, Beth." He noticed her bags, and eyed her warily. "You're not moving in, are you?"

"No," she said, and laughed nervously. "I can see how it'd look that way, and I guess I probably should have told you but I just thought it would be easiest to have the cab pick me up from here in a little while instead of going back to my house, since..." She trailed off, realizing from his expression that she'd lost him somewhere despite her attempt to give him as much information as she had. "You know - the cab that's picking me up to go to my parents'?"

"Ah," he said, in an obvious pretense at remembering.

She sighed; there was no reason to expect him to remember her exact plans for the holidays. Still, Launchpad seemed to have her whole itinerary memorized; she'd just gotten used to it, apparently. "Anyway, it's coming at about 9:45, so that's pretty soon, so I have my luggage and your gifts, and is Launchpad here?"

The chairs came to life then, beating Drake to an answer; Beth jumped and wondered if it was possible to be near those things when they went off and _not_ get the life scared out of her.

"Oh hey! Ya beat me here!" said Launchpad, standing up when the chairs stopped spinning. He stuck a wrapped gift box underneath a pillow on the couch, and approached her. "So, Merry Christmas!"

"Oh! Yeah! I haven't said that to anyone yet. It doesn't really feel like it's Christmas yet, I guess," said Beth sheepishly. "Merry Christmas, Gos, Drake."

"Hmm, how could we make it feel more like Christmas for Beth?" asked Gosalyn cunningly. "I know! Opening presents always does it for me..."

"Subtle," said Drake, looking down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I try," she said smugly.

Beth clasped her hands together. "Well, since I do only have a little bit longer I guess we should get to that. Let me dig through the gift suitcase - hopefully the stuff for you guys hasn't settled to the bottom yet..." She started for the spot near the door where she'd left her bags, and wrestled with the bigger one.

"Oh, lemme help ya," said Launchpad, picking it up. "C'mon, do that where there's better light." He swung it over towards the tree.

"Put it there, that's the spot with the most room," Drake instructed, clearing a little space. He backed up as Beth inserted herself into the opening that had been created and undid the snaps on her case. Drake grabbed Gosalyn's arm. "We've got to finish up the wrapping," he said, pulling her towards the stairs.

"You can do it," said Gosalyn, "I'm ready to-"

"No, honey, you need to help me up here!" said Drake insistently, all but yanking her upstairs.

Launchpad looked puzzled. "I thought you guys got all the wrapping done yesterday?"

"No, no, we've got a few more, LP!" said Drake through his teeth. He smiled widely at them both, and dragged Gosalyn away.

Beth, from where she was crouching over her open suitcase, said, "Weird."

"He's had a lot of coffee today," Launchpad said, kneeling down next to her.

"Mmm." It seemed like there was a very fine balance for Drake when it came to coffee - too little and he was cranky, too much and he was... a little hyper. "Okay, this big one is for Gos, this box is for Drake, and hmmm, I wonder who thiiiis could be for?" she said in a sing-song voice.

"Hm, I wonder," Launchpad said, grinning as she handed him a box and a card. "Should I open it now or later?"

"Oh, tomorrow, unless you really want to know what it is." She hated having people open their gifts in front of her; it made her uneasy. Launchpad stuck the box under the tree and got to his feet, then paused.

"Huh."

"What?" she glanced up at him, and noticed he was examining the ceiling. Oh... No, it couldn't be.

"Well, uh..." He looked down at her, wide-eyed, then jerked a thumb upwards. "Guess what."

She already knew. "That thing," she said, turning pink. "Well. I mean. Gosh. Are we...?" She checked - yep, _right_ underneath. The suitcase couldn't have been more centrally placed if it had been planned, though from Launchpad's response just now she knew it hadn't been. The first thing she thought, really, was just how ironic this was.

When she looked down from the ceiling, he was smiling, his arms behind his back. He didn't really - want to...?

Did he actually want to kiss her?

She felt her face burning. "Well, this is... awkward, huh?"

"Oh yeah, sure is," he said, and if anything he was smiling wider now than a moment before.

"I guess we're supposed to... I mean it's a holiday - trad-"

He put his hands up. "Oh, we don't have to! I mean, if you don't want to it's okay!"

"Well..." DID she want to? It wasn't as if it were a marriage proposal. Mistletoe was so common these days, and...

And... she'd gone her whole life, 25 years, and never been kissed... And she had to admit it would be nice.

"Well," she said again, "I didn't say I didn't want to."

"Oh. Okay." Hesitantly, Launchpad stepped closer to her. She took a step back, involuntarily, and smiled at him apologetically.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to... um... Sorry." She stepped forward again, stood still, and then leaned towards him, fractionally. How was she supposed to do this? What was she supposed to do with her hands? Should she shut her eyes? She shut her eyes, felt claustrophobic, and opened them again.

Launchpad smiled at her again, and so she smiled back and shut her eyes a second time. Not being able to see what was happening was driving her crazy, but actually seeing might be worse, she reasoned.

This was actually happening, she realized. Here, right now, she was about to kiss Launchpad.

She was about to _kiss_. _Launchpad_.

The air seemed to go out of her as the reality of it hit her. This was no daydream; this wasn't a story or a stray thought, this was _happening_, right now. Her face felt hot. It was taking a long time; shouldn't he be kissing her by now? WAS it really happening? Was she making a fool of herself by waiting when really she was supposed to be laughing the whole thing off and having cocoa? What time was it? Was her taxi here yet? Why hadn't he kissed her yet?!

She realized suddenly that she had her eyes shut so tightly she was seeing bright spots behind her eyelids. She tried to relax and worried she'd fall down. And then, from over her head, Launchpad laughed and said, "Don't be so scared." Then his hand was on the back of her head, pulling her forward slightly, and he kissed her forehead.

She opened her eyes in surprise as he pulled her into a hug, and stared at his jacket, her forehead pressed against his shoulder. All the fear went out of her with a whoosh, leaving a vacuum of adrenaline and a surprisingly bitter ache of disappointment.

When he released her from the hug, she forced herself to look up at him and tried to smile. "I thought-"

"Thought what?"

She could feel herself blushing; she must be able to light up a room, she was blushing so hard. "I - I didn't -" She didn't know how to articulate her disappointment, but she found his hand and stepped closer. "I wanted -"

"Okay, here come the recently-wrapped presents!" announced Drake, from upstairs, and she let her hand slip from his.

Launchpad winked, and for the first time she noticed his face was a little pink, too. "Don't worry about it. I'll getcha next year." Her eyes went wide for a moment, and then Drake and Gosalyn made it off the stairs and joined them.


	8. Chapter 8

**All I Want For Christmas**

* * *

_Here's the second half of the chapter. Notes at the end._

* * *

"Well! Everything work out okay?" Drake asked. Gosalyn, holding a few boxes of varying shapes, rolled her eyes.

Beth, who prayed she wasn't still blushing as badly as she had been, stammered, "F-fine! I, I got all the, um, gifts out, see? Wait, where's Launchpad's-?"

"I put it under the tree already," he reminded her. She nodded, for a good bit longer than was needed, and fell silent again.

The silence stretched on for a few seconds too many, until Drake nudged Gosalyn with his elbow. "Hey!" she said, stepping forward involuntarily. "Nice hint. Here ya go, Beth." She handed Beth two of the boxes - one about the size of a deck of cards, and the other a square slightly larger than Beth's hand. "Merry Christmas." The look she gave Beth then said very plainly, "Now mine, please."

Beth smiled, feeling oddly more at ease in the face of Gosalyn's unbridled avarice. She gave her offering - she couldn't even remember the name of it, only that it had "eXtreme" somewhere in the title and had something to do with sports - and was gratified to see Gosalyn's smile. "Open it later, though," Beth added. "I only have ten minutes and I really need to get everything distributed."

"Oh come on! I can open it while you're giving out the rest!" Gosalyn protested.

"Don't make me hide it, Gos," Drake admonished, draping his arm around her shoulders in a manner that was moderately at odds with his stern words. Gosalyn huffed and stuck the package under the tree.

Beth smiled shyly and handed Drake the last gift. "And this is for you," she said quietly. "I hope you like it."

Drake looked suddenly surprised, then guilty. "Oh - uh, gee Beth, I didn't really..." She just had time to register how odd it would be that he didn't seem to expect anything, when he slapped her reassuringly on her shoulder and laughed. "Ha! Just kidding. Here ya go!" He took the remaining parcels from Gosalyn and handed them to Beth; there were three in all.

"Wow - you didn't have to do all this!" she said. Drake, giving the once-over to the box with his gift in it, waved dismissively.

"Ahhh, Christmas only comes once a year." He deposited the small box under the tree with the other presents, and said, "Thanks."

Launchpad started towards the couch where he'd blatantly hidden Beth's gift under a pillow, and as he passed her Beth said, "Oh! I nearly forgot!" Trying to juggle the five packages she was holding, she attempted to worm her hand down to her coat pocket to get the diskette. Drake came forward and took the gifts for her, and she smiled gratefully - he was wonderful, he really was.

"There," she said when she got the diskette. She held it to Drake, who stared at it over her gifts in his arms. "It's, well, you know that program you said you wanted last night? I think this'll do the same thing. It was pretty easy, I worked it out last night, and if it doesn't work you didn't lose anything for trying."

Drake's face lit up, and he took the diskette, dropping two of the packages as he did. "Wow, Beth," he said, clearly impressed. She stooped to get the gifts he'd dropped. "This is really useful. Thanks." He sounded sincere, and more pleased than he'd been when she'd given him his actual gift. She straightened up and he was smiling.

_This may,_ she thought sincerely, _be the best moment of my life._

A honking from outside caught her attention. "The cab's not here already, is it?"

Gosalyn checked the window, and nodded. "Yep. Wow, are those dice on the mirror? _You're_ gonna be riding in style."

Beth went into a flurry of motion. "Oh no - I have to get everything packed again!" she said, and bent to her suitcase to start cramming things back into it. Given that she'd removed three items and was trying to stuff five back in, she met with little success.

"Oh, let me help you," said Drake, sounding resigned. He didn't reorganize anything, but did manage to shove two of the packages in and zip the bag up. "There - can you carry the rest or do you want help getting to the car?"

"I can do it, I think," said Beth. She stood up, grabbed the handle, and glanced up to realize that the mistletoe was right where she'd left it. And so was her suitcase. And this, naturally, left her and Drake standing properly where she'd wanted them to be for the past four days.

She tried to speak, and couldn't.

"Well, then...?" Drake prompted her, appearing a little unnerved by her sudden silence and the fact that she was staring at him openly.

Through a mouthful of sand, she said, "Um. The, uh. Did - did you hang...?"

The word "hang" seemed to spark a recognition in him. He looked up sharply, took in the position of the mistletoe, and looked back at her. She tried to laugh, and coughed instead. Drake sighed, almost painfully. "Well, it's a Christmas tradition."

He stepped toward her. Beth tried to do likewise, and found that her limbs were made of lead. She nearly didn't feel it when Drake put a hand on her shoulder, but when he planted a gentle peck on her cheek it seemed to vibrate through her feathers right down to her stomach. It wasn't the romantic clinch she'd dreamed of the past few days; it wasn't slow, nor even terribly personal. But it was _Drake_, and she hadn't tricked him into it or had to beg... And it was _real_. She felt warm all the way through.

The taxi honked again from outside, and Beth came back to earth in a quick snap to notice Gosalyn, a few feet away, looking grossed out. Still nursing her full-body warmth, and now feeling almost numb, Beth grabbed the handle of her suitcase. "Well, I better go!" she sang, and immediately tried to tone it down a little. It wasn't easy. She gave Drake a bright smile, aware that she was probably blinding him with the amount of blushing she was doing, and said, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," he said, a little awkwardly.

She stuffed the three remaining gifts under her arms, and tugged the suitcase towards the door. Drake beat her there and got the door, and she was just managing to get a good hold on the second bag when Launchpad tugged at her sleeve.

"Beth?" he said. "Uh, I got somethin' for ya..."

She turned; she'd nearly forgotten him after everything! When she faced him, she found he was still holding the gift that he had technically not yet given her. "Oh! Um - how will I...?" She took a moment to consider how to get the extra gift to the cab. "Maybe I can hold it in my mouth?"

Launchpad gave her an odd look. "Why don't I just get the bags for ya?"

"Oh, I couldn't ask that," she said futilely as he took them both from her, tucked his gift to her under his arm, and started down the walk towards the cab. "Okay, then. Um - bye guys!" She turned to Drake and Gosalyn, who were just behind her in the doorway. "Merry Christmas!"

"You too!" said Gosalyn, waving. "Have a good time!"

"See you next year," said Drake.

She waved as well, then trotted down the walkway to catch up to Launchpad, who was arranging the bags in the cab's trunk under the supervision of the driver. "Thank you - I really could have.."

"No problemo!" said Launchpad cheerfully. With a certain amount of ceremony, he presented her with his gift. "Meant to give ya this much earlier. I thought you could open it before ya left so I could see if ya like it, but... Just let me know when ya get back, I guess."

"Oh. Thank you." She decided not to mention how uncomfortable she was opening gifts in front of others, and just counted herself lucky that time had been short. "I know I'll like it."

"Okay," he said, and they fell into an awkward silence. Beth didn't know if she should say anything more; she'd thanked him already, but it felt like she should again. "Well, see ya!" he said suddenly, and gave her a hug before stepping back up onto the curb.

"Yeah!" she said, and opened the door to the cab. On impulse, she turned back and hugged him again, squeezing him more tightly for a moment before releasing him. She was going to miss Launchpad, she thought, possibly more than anyone else while she was gone. There wouldn't be anyone to talk to at her family's house. "See you next year," she said, sort of more into his jacket than to his face.

"Yeah." This was more into her hair than anything else.

She forced herself to let him go, and stepped back to the taxi. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas." He waved. She felt silly for prolonging the goodbye, and so just returned the wave and took her seat in the car, letting the gifts she'd been carrying fall next to her on the seat.

* * *

It was a _long_ ride. She knew that from years past; normally she slept most of the way, since she got a little carsick reading while the vehicle was in motion, but this time she was practically vibrating from her kiss from Drake and just couldn't relax. The taxi driver, naturally, was talkative, and this normally put Beth on edge. Today, though, she wasn't sure she could be more on edge if she'd hada eight cups of coffee.

"So, leavin' the boyfriend to go home for Christmas, huh?"

"They're just friends," she said quietly, but smiled at the fact that he thought Drake was her boyfriend. Or did he think that about Launchpad...? It was Drake she was mooning over now, but it occurred to her that the driver had seen her interacting much more with Launchpad before they'd left. Oh well - either way, the statement still stood, and in a way his thinking that Launchpad was her boyfriend was even more amusing.

"Uh-huh, I seen that kind of 'friend' before," he said affably. Beth blushed and didn't answer. "Gettin' a late start to get back home. This is a heavy travel day, y'know."

"I know," she said, and decided to lie a little; it was more pleasant than the actual reason she'd put off going home until now. "I work long hours, so this is my first chance to get there."

The cabbie tsked. "Aw, now see, that's what's wrong with the country these days. People like you an' me gotta work up through Christmas Eve instead of bein' with the important people at the important times."

To Beth, the important people were the ones she was leaving, but she didn't say so, especially because the cabbie was clearly attempting to relate to her. She felt for him, having to work and not see his family. "I know, it's just not fair."

"Darn right!" His radio crackled, and said something that Beth found totally unintelligible. Something to do with a dispatch, she assumed. She looked out the window, expecting that he was finished, but a moment later he spoke again. "So, what'd the boyfriend getcha?"

"He's really not my boyfriend," she said, but smiled again regardless. "And I probably should wait until tomorrow to open these. Most of them aren't from him, anyway," she added, wondering what that had to do with it.

The driver chuckled. "Hey, who's gonna know if you cheat a little? I won't tell anyone."

Well... She didn't have anything else to do. Why not? "Okay, but I'm holding you to that," she said.

The two that Drake had managed to get into her bag - which were now loaded safely into the trunk - turned out to have been one of Gosalyn's and one of his own. She started with the one that was left from Gosalyn, which was the slightly larger of the two. Inside was an odd, flimsy little day-glo coloured stick.

"What... in the world?" It curved inwardly, all along its length. She pushed at the curve, and there was a snap and the stick collapsed into a tight curl. "Oh!" she said, startled.

The cabbie laughed. "You never seen one of those? My girls used to love 'em. We had to buy 'em at least five each."

Beth had to laugh. Leave it to Gosalyn... "I... okay," she said, perplexed by it. What the heck was she supposed to do with it? "Well, that's the most unique gift I've gotten in a while..."

"From a kid, right?" he nodded to himself in answer. "Did her own shopping, I bet."

"I think you nailed it," Beth said, still chuckling at the day-glo stick/curl. She had a sneaking suspicion that the other, card-shaped gift Gosalyn had given her was, in fact, a deck of cards. That was in her bag, however, so she moved on to the gifts from Drake.

The first one was a small box. _Jewelry?_ she wondered, not quite daring to believe that. She gingerly picked apart the wrapping, then lifted the lid of the box. Inside was - she frowned and picked it up.

"A keychain?" she said quietly. It was flat, and had cartoony writing on it: "I'm not as dumb as you look." A novelty keychain.

"From the kid, too?"

"Huh? Uh, no, it's... from my friend. Not the one who's not my boyfriend," she added, aware that the clarification was pointless. "I, um... I don't think he knew what to get me."

"What's it say?" asked the driver. She told him, and he laughed. "That's a good one! You seen the one that says 'I didn't lose the keys, this time I lost the whole dang car'?"

"Nnnnooo, no I haven't..." she said politely. The one Drake had given her was better, she thought. She put the keychain back in its box and moved on to the next gift - much larger, and flat. Possibly a picture frame, from the weight of it.

When she tore it open, she had to laugh again. A frame, yes: complete with a complimentary 8x10 glossy of Darkwing Duck at his most dramatic (and with excellent lighting hitting the brim of his hat just _so_). He'd even signed it. "To Beth Webfoot. Your hero, Darkwing Duck," she read aloud, and turned it around so that the cabbie could see it in the mirror.

"Ahhh, that guy. I know that guy. He tossed some thugs onto the hood of my cab once. I guess he was doin' his job, an' that's great, but it took a couple hundred bucks to get all the dents out." He laughed and shook his head. "You must be a big fan, then."

She shrugged. "In a way," she said, looking at it affectionately. "I can hang this in my living room." He was so handsome - but she really would have preferred a photo of him as Drake. Oh, well - it was the thought that counted.

She picked up Launchpad's gift, and examined it. Again, somewhat small; a box, not too heavy but probably made of wood, she surmised from the density of it. She unwrapped it and found that, once again, she'd been right. It looked like a jewelry box. She opened the box to see inside.

The first thing she was aware of was music; a pretty little tune chiming away. After a moment she identified the song as Lara's Theme from "Dr. Zhivago". The most amazing part, however, was the scenario inside the box: a tiny paper puppet of a ballerina, jointed and delicate, danced and flipped to the music. She was entranced. "This is beautiful," she breathed.

The cabbie didn't speak. The only noise in the car was the music, and she drank it in, watching the ballerina puppet dance. This was, by far, the most special gift she had received since - she didn't know when. The ache of disappointment rose inside her again, and she didn't say anything more. When the music stopped, she wound the key and started it again, smiling and watching the ballerina dance.

End

* * *

_Notes:  
First of all don't hate me for the way this went down! Keep in mind that my hands are sort of tied by the timing. In fact I found it SO HARD not to go farther with this but I can't. This takes place before (LONG before) stories that already establish the first time certain things happen. I'm vague, I know lol But my point is, there's only so far I can take this thing (and I pushed the envelope; my original outline included Beth getting NO kisses in this story and I felt like she'd tried too hard to leave it at that ). NEXT year, however... nyahahaha. _

_A Launchpad Disclaimer: Don't feel too bad for LP in this one. Yeah, I know, he's angsted some in previous stories but he's pretty much past that as of "The Bride Wore Black" so I put him as past it here, too. Right now he's at a point where he and Beth are starting to talk more, hang out more, and discover what they have in common; he's secure in the knowledge that Drake is truly not interested in Beth romantically; he figures it's just a matter of time until the tide starts to turn his way. Sure, I bet this story had its frustrating moments for him, but he's a good guy. I think he put them aside pretty quickly. Like I, and most people in this story, said - next year! (And yeah, I wanted to write that kiss, I really did.) _

_A Drake Disclaimer: The problem is that Drake is kind of an enigma to Beth. She's fascinated by him but she can't always tell when he's being sarcastic and in particular she often can't tell when he's joking and when she's genuinely started to irritate him. Sometimes she just guesses, and sometimes when she does she guesses wrong. g Anyway, since she can't always tell, in this story neither can we. _

_Finally, that day-glo stick? That's a "slap bracelet", which were all the rage around 1990 or '91. I sorta figure they were still around in '92 (which is when I set this story), probably in a $1 bin at a store that Gosalyn was shopping in. g _

_So that's it! Thank you for reading this, my first posted-as-it's-written fanfic in years! Thank you for feedback; it's honestly, truly kept me going on this and I'm hoping I'll keep the momentum going through til next year and get at least one more fic done! Thanks, and Happy Holidays!_


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